SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Jack Lausch's two-run, two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Northwestern a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Cornell baseball team on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Park.

Lausch's game-winner also came with the bases loaded against Cornell senior two-way player TJ Swidorski, capping a 3-hour, 52-minute contest.

The Big Red had scored in the top of the 11th as freshman third baseman Aiden Barclay led the inning off being hit by a pitch and then advanced to second on a Northwestern passed ball. Freshman left fielder Caden Callaway layed down a bunt and an errant throw by Wildcat pitcher Dominic DeForeto enabled Barclay to score from second to put the Big Red ahead.

Free passes plagued Cornell in the home half of the 11th as a walk drawn by Griffin Mills was bookended by Northwestern batters being hit by pitches. Senior right-hander Josh Shea was able to get Jay Slater to strikeout before Lausch's late-game heroics lifted Northwestern to the victory.

Cornell (0-3) appeared poised to register its first win of the season after it led 4-1 going into the the bottom of the seventh, but Northwestern (3-2) tied the game with a dramatic three-run ninth off Cornell junior left-hander Andrew Houghton, who did not retire any batters. Noah Ruiz's two-RBI single helped set up Mills to drive in the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly.

Northwestern opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI triple by Owen McElfatrick and was able to hold its one-run lead until Cornell scored three runs in the fifth.

After sophomore designated hitter Jayden Shin and freshman right fielder Jake Hower led the inning off with singles, they were able to advance 90 feet on a wild pitch on a strikeout. Freshman left fielder Caden Callaway reached on an error by Northwestern's first baseman, enabling Shin to score before Hower stole home on a delayed double steal. Sophomore catcher Mason Barela added a two-out RBI single to give Cornell a two-run lead before senior center fielder Caden Wildman singled home Callaway with a two-out RBI single in the seventh.

Cornell's junior right-hander Ethan Van Sice made his first collegiate start, working the first four innings, allowing one run on three hits while issuing five walks. Sophomore right-hander John Hegarty did not allow a hit over his four scoreless frames before the Wildcats' ninth-inning rally.

GAME NOTES
• Northwestern evened the series with Cornell, 3-3, behind its walk-off victory. Five of the six games played between the Big Red and Wildcats have been one-run contests.

• Shin and Hower were the lone Big Red players with multi-hit performances and both players had a double.

• Four Cornell players were hit by a pitch on Saturday, the program's most since the Big Red drew five hit by pitches against Harvard on April 20, 2025, in a 14-13 victory over the Crimson.

• Hegarty became the first Cornell pitcher to throw four scoreless innings of relief since Gus Magill in the Big Red's regular-season finale against Princeton on May 4, 2025.

UP NEXT
Cornell will conclude its four-game series at the Hub City Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 22, against Boston College. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. No live video stream will be available.

Senior right-handed pitcher Ethan Hamill is scheduled to take the ball for Cornell for the first time since May 2024, after missing the entirety of last season due to injury. Boston College has not yet named its starting pitcher.