ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell baseball trimmed a three-run deficit to one after the first inning before Harvard erupted for 13 unanswered runs to claim the series with a 16-3 victory Monday afternoon at Booth Field.
Jack Rickheim, Gio Colasante and Max Lane combined to go 9-for-12 with 15 RBI to lead the Crimson (4-15, 3-3 Ivy League) offense. Rickheim and Lane each had a double and two home runs.
Harvard jumped out to an early lead in the first inning as Lane launched a three-run home run off senior right-hander
Ethan Hamill to put the Crimson ahead 3-0. Cornell (4-15, 2-4 Ivy League) responded in the bottom of the frame as sophomore catcher
Mason Barela drove in a run on a groundout and senior center fielder
Caden Wildman scored on a wild pitch by Harvard starter Andrew Abler to trim the deficit to 3-2.
The Crimson pulled away in the second inning as Colasante launched a three-run home run to push the lead to 6-2 before Tyler Shulman added an RBI double as part of a four-run second. Harvard scored four more in the third, with Rickheim adding an RBI double before Lane cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to make it 11-2.
Rickheim hit a three-run home run in the fourth before the two combined for back-to-back solo shots — Lane in the fifth, Rickheim in the sixth — accounting for Harvard's final two runs.
Cornell snapped the Crimson's string of unanswered runs in the ninth as freshman outfielder
Trent Lopez led off with a pinch-hit double and scored on another pinch-hit double by sophomore outfielder
Troy Ashkinos.
Hamill struggled in his start, surrendering seven runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings. Freshman right-hander
Michael Tight also had a difficult outing, allowing seven runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Junior right-hander
Max Foster provided some stability, yielding two runs on four hits over 2 2/3 innings, while senior right-hander
Josh Shea and junior left-hander
Andrew Houghton combined to hold Harvard scoreless over the final three frames.
Abler earned the win for Harvard, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings with six strikeouts. Ryan McHugh closed it out with a three-inning save.
GAME NOTES
• Harvard increased its lead in the all-time series against Cornell, 117-62, and has won consecutive season series against the Big Red for the first time since going 2-1 in 2019 and sweeping the season series in 2022.
• Ashkinos' pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth inning was his first extra-base hit as a member of the Big Red. It was Cornell's first RBI base hit in a pinch-hit at-bat since Wildman at VCU on March 10, 2023.
• Cornell struck out 12 Harvard batters for the second time in three games. Foster's four strikeouts led all Big Red pitchers and matched his single-game high for the fourth time in his career and third time this season (March 10, 2024, at Georgetown; Feb. 20, 2026, vs. Boston College; Feb. 28, 2026, at Richmond).
• Freshman designated hitter
Aiden Barclay extended his season-best hit streak to six games following his one-out single up the middle in the fifth inning. Junior infielder Owen Carslon, who did not play at all in this weekend's series, owns the longest active hit streak at seven games.
UP NEXT
Cornell will play its fourth game in three days on Tuesday, March 31, when it travels to face Army (14-11). First pitch from Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Game action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Black Knights are coming off their weekend series victory over Patriot League rival Navy, where they won the first game in 10 innings, 5-4, before the Midshipmen took the middle game, 5-2. In the rubber match, Army edged Navy, 4-3, to retain the baseball star in the Star Series, presented by USAA, for a third consecutive year.
