ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell baseball team scored seven unanswered runs between the fourth and eighth innings to post a 7-2 victory over Columbia in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader at Booth Field, but was held scoreless over its next 10 innings of play as the Lions posted a 2-0 shutout victory in the nightcap over the Big Red.
With its loss in the nightcap, the Big Red (11-25, 8-12 Ivy League) has been eliminated from qualifying for the Ivy League Tournament. Following the results of Saturday's games, the Lions (14-23-1, 9-10-1 Ivy League) are one step closer to securing the fourth and final spot in the 2026 Ivy League Baseball Tournament, which will be held at the site of the regular-season champion in two weeks. Columbia will need a victory over Cornell on Sunday to solidify its spot.
GAME ONE RECAP
Cornell's outfield trio of freshmen
Trent Lopez and
Jake Hower and sophomore
Tyler Beaulieu combined to go 8-for-10 and drove in six of the Big Red's seven RBI as Cornell claimed the series opener, 7-2, over Columbia.
Lopez had a season-high four RBI as part of a 2-for-4 day with a home run, while Hower and Beaulieu — Cornell's sixth and seventh batters in the lineup — combined to go 6-for-6 with three runs and two RBI.
Freshman right-handed pitcher
Ross Yoshida earned his third win in as many weekends, firing 4 1/3 hitless innings of relief, allowing one run, walking one and striking out three.
Columbia and Cornell traded RBI singles in the fourth inning as Columbia's Hunter Snyder opened the scoring with a two-out single.
The Big Red benefited from a leadoff walk drawn by junior designated hitter
Owen Carlson and a wild pitch advanced Carlson to second base. Following a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop
TJ Swidorski, Hower singled Carlson home to tie the game and plate the first of seven unanswered runs by the Big Red.
Beaulieu sparked a three-run sixth for Cornell, hitting an RBI single with the bases loaded after Carlson drew a leadoff walk and junior second baseman
Kevin Hager hit a single. Another Swidorski sacrifice bunt led to Hower being intentionally walked before Beaulieu's go-ahead RBI base hit. Lopez increased Cornell's lead on another RBI single with the bases loaded before junior third baseman
Luke Johnson was hit by a pitch that brought in another Cornell run.
Lopez broke the game open in the eighth with a one-out, three-run home run to increase Cornell's lead to 7-1. Columbia added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly.
Junior left-handed pitcher
Huxley Holcombe earned the start for the Big Red, allowing one run on five hits over 4 2/3 innings while issuing two walks and striking out four.
Columbia's Alex Sotiropoulos ended as the losing pitcher, allowing four runs on seven hits across 5 2/3 innings, while walking four and striking out six. Payton Soske yielded three runs and three hits over the final 2 1/3 innings.
GAME TWO RECAP
Cornell had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Columbia's Will Harrigan induced a game-ending double play to solidify Columbia's first shutout since 2024 with its 2-0 blanking of the Big Red in the nightcap.
Lions starting pitcher Evan Kleinhans held Cornell to just six hits over the first 8 1/3 innings, walking just one batter and striking out five before giving the ball to Harrigan, who allowed a base hit to the first batter he faced before getting the double play to end the game.
Columbia opened the scoring in the third inning, benefiting from a balk charged to Cornell starting pitcher
John Hegarty. With runners at first and third, Columbia's Anthony Temesvary attempted a steal of home, which led Hegarty to disengage from the pitching rubber improperly and have a balk called, advancing each runner one base.
Temesvary doubled the Lions' lead in the fifth inning with a leadoff home run. It was the first home run allowed by Hegarty in 156 batters, dating back to when he allowed a career-high two home runs at Harvard on April 19, 2025.
After the home run, Hegarty issued a four-pitch walk that ended his outing. The sophomore right-hander pitched four-plus innings, yielding two runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out one.
Freshmen right-handers
Michael Tight and
Ross Yoshida combined to hold Columbia scoreless over the final five innings of play. Tight extended his shutout streak to 12 2/3 innings after allowing just one hit over four shutout innings of relief, walking one and striking out three. Yoshida set the Lions down in order in the ninth.
Outside of a two-out double by sophomore left fielder
Tyler Beaulieu in the seventh, Cornell did not threaten offensively until the ninth inning. Following a leadoff groundout, junior second baseman
Kevin Hager hit a comebacker to Kleinhans, who was unable to hold onto the ball and record an out, and consecutive singles by freshman right fielder
Jake Hower and senior shortstop
TJ Swidorski loaded the bases. Beaulieu swung at the first offering from Harrigan, grounding into a game-ending double play.
GAME NOTES
• The Big Red's lead in the all-time series now stands at 135-124 following the doubleheader split. Columbia has now won 16 of the last 21 meetings against the Big Red. Cornell's victory in the opener marked the program's first home win over Columbia since a 14-2 triumph on May 12, 2018, at Hoy Field.
• Cornell extended its streak of games without an error to seven games — a span that stretches across 57 1/3 innings — the longest errorless streak posted by the Big Red over the last 40-plus seasons.
• Over its last four games, Cornell has allowed only eight runs, the fewest runs conceded by the Big Red over a four-game span since also yielding eight opposing runs between March 16-23, 2019. During that span, Cornell shut out Fordham, 1-0, split a doubleheader with Towson (won 4-2 and lost 3-2), and was blanked by Columbia, 3-0. The Big Red has allowed three runs or fewer in four consecutive games for the first time since a five-game span in 2019, where Cornell defeated Columbia, 4-3, after the 3-0 shutout.
• The Big Red struck out 11 Columbia batters across the two games, increasing its season total to 263, ranking as the third-most strikeouts in a season in program history. The Big Red is now 14 strikeouts away from matching the program record, set in both 1977 and 2003 (277). It is just the fifth time the Big Red has surpassed 260 strikeouts in a season.
MOST STRIKEOUTS IN A SINGLE SEASON
Cornell Program History
T1. 277, 1977
T1. 277, 2023
3. 263, 2026
4. 261, 2002
5. 260, 2015
• Yoshida's three strikeouts in the opening game increased his season total to 42, standing as the fourth-most punchouts by a Cornell freshman pitcher in program history. He is one of seven Big Red first-year pitchers to have 40-plus strikeouts in a season and the first since
Noah Keller had 50 strikeouts in 2023. Across his last six outings, Yoshida has gone 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA (2 ER in 19.2 IP) and 0.46 WHIP, while holding opponents to a .100 batting average (6-for-60).
MOST STRIKEOUTS BY A FRESHMAN PITCHER
Cornell Program History
1. 61, Greg Myers (1979)
2. 52, Rich DeSa (1984)
3. 50, Noah Keller (2023)
4. 42, Ross Yoshida (2026)
5. 41, Brian McAfee (2012)
T6. 40, Chris Carls (2006)
T6. 40, Brent Jones (2012)
• With at least one hit in both games, Hager extended his hit streak to six games and is riding a 15-game on-base streak. Hager has also reached safely in 42 of his last 44 games, dating back to last season.
• Sparked by his pair of multi-hit games, Beaulieu extended his career-long on-base streak to 10 games on Saturday, while upping his hitting streak to four games, a career-high-tying mark. During his 10-game on-base streak, he has hits in nine games, hitting .378/.400/.595 (14-for-37) with a .995 OPS, six runs, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI. Beaulieu has recorded multi-hit games in each of his last three outings.
• Hower extended his on-base streak to 11 games, one shy of his season-long streak between March 1-29. Since his 12-game on-base streak began, Hower has now reached base at least once in 26 of his last 29 games.
• Carlson has now reached base safely in 19 of his last 21 games and 38 of his last 41, dating back to last season.
• Despite having his career-high-tying five-game hit streak snapped in the opener, Swidorski reached base in both games to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 13 games.
LOOKING ON DECK
Cornell and Columbia will play the rubber match of this weekend's series on Sunday, May 3. First pitch from Booth Field is scheduled for noon. The annual Senior Day ceremony will take place at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Senior right-handed pitcher
Ethan Hamill (1-3, 5.93 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Big Red against Columbia's Thomas Santana (4-4, 5.40 ERA). Game action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
