BALTIMORE — The Cornell baseball team (3-2) scored 24 runs on 20 hits to sweep its doubleheader against UMBC (1-5) at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Cornell avenged an early 3-0 deficit in the opener by posting an 8-7 win in 10 innings before prevailing in a seven-inning slugfest, 16-13, in the nightcap.
 
The two victories represent the Big Red's best five-game start since 2017, when it also kicked off the season with a 3-2 record.
 
GAME ONE RECAP
Taking advantage of UMBC's fifth error of the game, sophomore third baseman Luke Johnson singled home junior TJ Swidorski to break open a 7-7 tie in the 10th inning to guide Cornell to its 8-7 victory over UMBC in the opening game of Saturday's twin bill.
 
Johnson was one of three Big Red hitters who recorded multi-hit days, alongside senior designated hitter Kyle Musser and sophomore catcher Mark Quatrani. Also contributing to the effort with multiple RBI were senior first baseman Max Jensen and junior right fielder Caden Wildman.
 
Senior two-way player Ryan Porter earned the victory for the Big Red, delivering 2.2 scoreless innings of relief and allowing just one baserunner, who reached on a one-out single down the left-field line in the home half of the 10th inning.
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Carson Mayfield earned the start for the Big Red in the opener, allowing five runs (three earned) on five hits over four-plus innings. He struck out five and issued a trio of walks.
 
The Retrievers hit five home runs in the loss, with Jesiah Carpenter, Nico Ong, Danny Wyatt, Leewood Molessa, and Derek Paris each hitting a round-tripper. Zach Kelly was the losing pitcher for UMBC, allowing one hit and an unearned run while issuing two walks in his two-thirds of an inning of work.
 
Zach Robinson started for the Retrievers, yielding four runs on five hits in four innings on the mound, striking out three Cornell batters, and not issuing any free passes.
 
In what turned out to be a seesaw battle, UMBC took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning, sparked by a two-out solo home run from Wyatt in the first inning, breaking his 0-for-15 start to the season at the plate. An error by Cornell to start the inning allowed the Retrievers to score two unearned runs from an RBI single by Luke Buscagalia and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Carpenter.
 
Cornell narrowed its deficit to 3-2 in the third inning with a two-out, two-run home run hit by Musser along the left-field line. Sophomore second baseman Owen Carlson set the stage for Musser's hit with a leadoff bunt single.
 
The Retrievers extended their lead with a second two-out solo home run in the game, this time off the bat of Paris in the bottom half of the third inning.
 
Four unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings gave Cornell a 6-4 lead, fueled by a two-run home run from Wildman and a two-RBI single by Jensen.
 
Continuing its trend of hitting home runs, UMBC recorded solo home runs by Molessa and Ong in the fifth and sixth innings, tying the game at 6-6. Ong's home run was the Retrievers' third two-out blast of the contest.
 
After a fielding error by UMBC first baseman Nolan Kutney allowed Cornell to take the lead at 7-6 in the seventh inning, Carpenter hit his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the eighth, equalizing the game at 7-7.
 
In the 10th inning, following a leadoff lineout, Swidorski reached base due to Kutney's second fielding error, which set up Johnson's RBI single. Cornell threatened to score more runs that inning, loading the bases with two outs, but UMBC reliever Shane Murphy was able to induce an inning-ending flyout to prevent any further damage.
 
Porter shut down any chance of a UMBC comeback by inducing a game-ending double play after striking out the leadoff hitter and allowing a one-out single.
 
GAME TWO RECAP
Eleven unanswered runs scored by Cornell between the second and fourth innings avenged a 7-0 first-inning deficit as the Big Red prevailed in a seven-inning slug fest, 16-13.

Cornell plated 16 runs on just 11 hits to sweep the doubleheader, benefiting from another quintet of UMBC miscues. Senior first baseman Max Jensen had a team-high three hits, going 3-for-5 with a pair of solo home runs. Sophomore shortstop Kevin Hager continued his torrid beginning of the season, going 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI. Junior second baseman TJ Swidorski and sophomore third baseman Luke Johnson each chipped in three RBI apiece. Junior right fielder Caden Wildman scored a team-high four runs.

Sophomore southpaw Nathaniel Jennewein earned his second career victory, tossing 3.1 innings of relief of junior left-handed pitcher Noah Keller, who was unable to escape the first inning after allowing seven runs on just two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Jennewein matched his career high for strikeouts (five) while allowing three runs (two earned) on one hit. Senior left-hander William Jaun posted his second career save, allowing just one hit over the final two innings of work and striking out four Retrievers.

Sam Bell was the losing pitcher for UMBC, after allowing four runs (three earned) on two hits over one-third of an inning. Brady Fox made the start for the Retrievers, yielding two runs (one earned) on one hit in two innings of work.

Leewood Molessa (1-for-4, home run, 4 RBI) and Carver Salazar (1-for-3, home run, three RBI) paced the Retrievers offense, who only mustered six hits off of Cornell pitching. Molessa ignited the Retrievers' seven-run first with a sacrifice fly before Salazar capped the scoring with a three-run home run.

UMBC opened the contest with a bang, scoring seven runs on two hits in the first inning, but was only countered by Cornell's string of 11 unanswered runs across the second and fourth innings, highlighted by an eight-run third inning, to turn its seven-run deficit into a three-run lead.
 
Swidorski ignited the unanswered run spree by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the second inning before senior left fielder John Quinlan hit into a fielder's choice that also scored a Big Red run.
 
In the third inning, Jensen led off with a home run, the first of eight consecutive Big Red players to safely reach base. After two walks surrounded a double by senior center fielder Jakobi Davis, Hager cleared the bases with a double down the left-field line, narrowing UMBC's lead to 7-4. Johnson ended up tying the game with his first collegiate home run, a three-run shot to left field.
 
Senior left fielder John Quinlan concluded Cornell's eight-run third by scoring on a wild pitch after reaching safely on a three-base fielding error by UMBC. Quinlan increased the Big Red's lead further, 11-7, in the fourth with a two-out RBI single.
 
The Retrievers cut Cornell's lead to 11-10 in the fourth with a three-run home run by Molessa, his second round-tripper of the day, before Cornell extended its lead up to six, 16-10, in the fifth inning.

Jensen opened the fifth inning with his second leadoff home run of the game before Hager added to the Big Red's lead with a one-out single for his fourth RBI of the game. Swidorski followed up a two-run doubled and senior designated hitter Kyle Musser drew a bases-loaded walk to conclude the scoring in the inning.
 
A two-out, two-run double by UMBC's Dylan Wyatt narrowed the Retrievers' deficit to four before a bases-loaded walk by Best brought Cornell's lead down to 16-13.
 
Jaun earned the save after keeping the Retrievers' hitters off balance in the final two innings, striking out four batters during his outing.

GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the first two meetings between Cornell and UMBC. The doubleheader sweep was the Big Red's first time sweeping a twin bill since last year against Yale on April 20.
 
• Jensen extended his on-base streak to 23 games behind a fifth-inning single in the opener and a two-out single in the nightcap. Senior center fielder Jakobi Davis saw his career-long seven-game hitting streak get snapped after going 0-for-4 at the plate in the opener.
 
• With his two-home run game, Jensen became the first Big Red player with a multi-home run game since Nathan Waugh last April 27 in a 14-11 loss to Columbia at Booth Field.
 
• Cornell struck out 11 batters in the opening game, marking its most punchouts since fanning 11 Columbia hitters on April 27, 2024, at Booth Field in a 14-2 setback.
 
• Wildman's four runs was the first time a Big Red player crossed home plate four times in a game since Quinlan did so in the nightcap of an April 13 doubleheader last year at Penn.
 
• Wildman also drew three of Cornell's 11 walks in the latter victory, becoming the first Cornell batter to draw three free passes since Jensen against Georgia Tech last season (Feb. 23, 2024), the last time Cornell had drawn 10-plus walks in a game.
 
• Saturday's nightcap was the highest-scoring seven-inning game played by Cornell since falling to Penn State, 26-4, at Hoy Field on April 4, 2001. It was the highest-scoring game in seven innings or fewer in a Big Red win since it defeated Schrenier, 17-16, in San Antonio, Texas, on March 31, 1985.
 
• The eight-run third inning in the nightcap was Cornell's most runs scored in an inning since also scoring eight runs in the bottom of the seventh of the second game of an April 2, 2022, doubleheader against Yale, where the Big Red prevailed 12-9.
 
UP NEXT
The third game of the series scheduled for Sunday afternoon was canceled late Saturday evening due to expected below-freezing temperatures in the Baltimore area.

Cornell will return to action on Friday, March 7, when it faces Michigan State (8-1) to begin the first of three games in the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, S.C.

First pitch between the Big Red and Spartans is scheduled for 10 a.m. from Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, the Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. All three games of the tournament will be available on ESPN+.