TOWSON, Md. — Sophomore shortstop
Kevin Hager, senior designated hitter
Ryan Porter, and sophomore catcher
Mark Quatrani each recorded three hits, accounting for nine of Cornell's 14 hits, as the Big Red baseball team (5-6) earned an 8-5 victory over Towson (6-14) at John B. Schuerholz Park on Sunday afternoon, securing the three-game series victory against the Tigers.
Senior center fielder
Jakobi Davis and sophomore right fielder
Caden Wildman also had multi-hit games for the Big Red, both collecting a pair of base knocks.
Davis was one of three Cornell batters to hit home runs, joining Porter and senior left fielder
John Quinlan.
Freshman
Sam Keene achieved his first collegiate victory after allowing one run without a hit in 2.1 innings of relief for senior right-hander
Chris Ellison. Keene walked three batters and struck out three, while Ellison surrendered two runs on three hits over his four-plus innings on the mound, issued six walks, and struck out two Towson batters. Fellow freshman
John Hegarty recorded his first career save by pitching the final 2.1 innings.
Brian Heckelman led Towson's offense, going 3-for-3 with two RBI. Jordan Peyton also drove in two runs and hit the Tigers' only home run on the day.
Dutch DeProspero was the losing pitcher, allowing four runs on 10 hits over 4.2 innings. He walked two Cornell batters and did not register any strikeouts. Kyle Emmons recorded all five of Towson's strikeouts in his two innings of relief for DeProspero.
Cornell jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning on the power of three home runs. Davis led the second inning off with a blast to right-center field before Porter (one-out, solo blast) and Quinlan (two-out, two-run shot) upped the Big Red's lead to four.
Towson trimmed Cornell's lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning with a leadoff home run by Peyton, followed by a sacrifice fly from Heckelman.
In the seventh inning, a three-run rally extended Cornell's lead to 7-2 when Musser was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, setting the stage for Wildman's two-out, two-RBI single.
Towson and Cornell exchanged single runs in the next three half-innings as Heckleman recorded his second RBI with a base hit to left field. Cornell concluded its scoring for the day with an eighth-inning RBI single by Hager before the Tigers added runs in the eighth and ninth innings on sacrifice flies from Peyton and Ethan Brand.
GAME NOTES
• Sunday was the seventh meeting between Cornell and Towson. The Big Red took the lead in the series, 4-3, and has outscored the Tigers by 21 runs, 69-48.
• Jensen extended his on-base streak to 29 games after drawing a one-out walk in the first inning but had his team-leading seven-game hitting streak snapped.
• Quinlan upped his hit streak to seven games and has reached base in his last 19 games, dating back to last season, following his fourth-inning home run. Following his three-hit game, Quatrani also increased his hit streak to five games.
• Jensen, Quinlan, and Davis have all reached safely in the first 11 games of the season.
• As a team, Cornell batted .351 (39-of-111) during the weekend series with five doubles, two triples, and eight home runs. The team posted a 1.108 OPS, behind a .459 on-base percentage and .649 slugging percentage.
UP NEXT
Cornell will begin Ivy League play next weekend, concluding its 14-game season-opening road trip with a three-game series against Yale (11-3), which holds the Ancient Eight's top overall record. The Bulldogs are on an eight-game winning streak heading into their midweek contest against Quinnipiac on Wednesday afternoon, having beaten Siena and Sacred Heart in midweek games and sweeping three-game series against Rice and VMI.
The series between the Big Red and Bulldogs will start on Saturday, March 22, with a doubleheader set for an 11:30 a.m. first pitch. All three games of the series will be aired on ESPN+.
