RICHMOND, Va. — Five unanswered runs scored by Richmond across the fourth and fifth innings helped distance the Spiders, who held off a ninth-inning, two-out rally in their 9-6 victory over the Cornell baseball team at Pitt Field on Friday afternoon.
RJ Johnson Jr. hit two of the four home runs hit by the Spiders (6-4), registering his first career multi-home run game as Richmond improved to 6-2 at Pitt Field this season.
Richmond's Glenn Smith struck out a career-high six batters in his five-inning start, giving way to Bijan Anvar and Justin Gay, who each pitched two innings in relief.
Senior right-handed pitcher
Carson Mayfield fanned six over his 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits. Mayfield's lone free pass of the day came when he hit the Spiders' leadoff batter with a pitch. Freshman right-hander
Ross Yoshida held Richmond's hitters in check, allowing just one run and two hits over the final 3 2/3 innings, fanning four.
Senior center fielder
Caden Wildman logged a team-high three hits as part of a 3-for-4 day with two doubles, making him one of four Cornell (0-5) players with multi-hit performances,. Junior shortstop
Kevin Hager (two-run home run) and freshman right fielder
Jake Hower (two-run double) had two RBI apiece.
Richmond took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single. The Big Red appeared poised to escape the second inning, retiring the first two batters, before a fielding error extended the frame and Johnson launched a two-run home run to push the Spiders to a 3-0 lead.
Hager cut the deficit to one with a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the fourth, but Richmond answered with five unanswered runs across the fourth and fifth to push the lead to 8-2.
Hower snapped Richmond's string of consecutive runs with a two-run double to the left-center field gap in the sixth inning following a leadoff single by sophomore catcher
Mason Barela and Wildman's second double of the day.
Johnson hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth to give Richmond a 9-4 advantage. Cornell made things interesting in the ninth, mounting a two-out rally beginning with senior first baseman
TJ Swidorski's RBI double to right-center field, and was driven home on junior second baseman
Owen Carlson's RBI single. Gay ended the threat with a game-ending strikeout
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 12th all-time meeting between Cornell and Richmond and was the seventh meeting since 2022. Richmond extended its series lead to 9-3 with the victory.
• Both Hager and Carlson extended their on-base streaks to 19 and 16 games, respectively. Hager has reached safely in 34 of his last 35 and in 55 of his 62 career games, while Carlson has been on base in 29 of his last 30 and 35 of his previous 37 outings.
• Wildman registered his first career game with multiple doubles, while becoming the first player with a multi-double game since
Ryan Porter against Princeton in the nightcap of a May 3, 2025, doubleheader.
• Mayfield's six strikeouts increased his career total to 129, jumping ahead of both Fred Anyzeski (128, 1972-73) and John O'Connor (124, 1985-88) for sole possession of the 22nd-most punchouts by a Big Red pitcher since 1947.
MOST CAREER STRIKEOUTS
Cornell Program History (Since 1947)
• 1. 217, Greg Myers (1979-82)
• 2. 203, Steve Hamrick (1973-74)
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• 18. 139, Tim Willittes (2014-18)
• 19. 137, Brian Williamson (1996-99)
• 20. 134, William DeGraaf (1954-56)
• 21. 133, Jay Kobylarz (1979-82)
• 22. 129, Carson Mayfield (2023-Present)
• 23. 128, Fred Anzyeski (1972-73)
• 24. 124, John O'Connor (1985-88)
UP NEXT
Cornell will continue its three-game series at Pitt Field against Richmond on Saturday, Feb. 28. First pitch between the Big Red and Spiders is scheduled for 1 p.m. Junior southpaw
Huxley Holcombe (0-1, 6.75 ERA) is slated to take the ball for Cornell, while Richmond left-hander Joey Giordano (2-0, 3.48 ERA) is scheduled to go for the Spiders.
