WEST POINT, N.Y. — Cornell junior infielders Kevin Hager and Luke Johnson each had three hits and two RBI, but Army pulled away with five unanswered runs across the fourth and sixth innings to defeat the Cornell baseball team, 12-6, on Tuesday afternoon at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field.

Hager finished with two solo home runs and Johnson added a double as nine Cornell batters combined for 13 hits. The Big Red fell to 4-16 on the year.

Five Army players drove in two runs apiece as the Black Knights improved to 15-11. Nine players combined for 11 hits, and Army stranded 13 runners on base.

Cornell took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Hager hit a home run to left field, but Army responded with four runs in the bottom half to go ahead for good. A hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk put the Black Knights ahead before Zac Farrell added a run on a fielder's choice and Max McGlone singled home another down the left-field line.

A two-out rally in the second trimmed Cornell's deficit to one as Johnson hit an RBI single and senior center fielder Caden Wildman drew a bases-loaded walk. Army extended the lead to 6-3 in the third on a fielder's choice and sacrifice fly, but Johnson doubled home an unearned run and Hager connected for his second home run of the game in the fourth to again pull the Big Red within one.

Army answered with three runs in the fourth as Thomas Schreck singled home a run and Mason Scott followed with a two-run single to push the lead to 9-5. Farrell added an RBI single and Chris Barr hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to extend the advantage to 11-5.

Sophomore catcher Mason Barela singled home Cornell's sixth run in the seventh, but Addison Ainsworth doubled home a run in the bottom half to cap the scoring.

Senior left-hander Noah Keller struggled in his first start of the season after 14 consecutive relief appearances, dating back to last season, yielding four runs on one hit while throwing 38 pitches in two-thirds of an inning. Ross Yoshida, Andrew Houghton and Graham Biben combined to allow one run over the final two innings, a bright spot in an otherwise difficult day for Cornell's pitching staff.

Mark Abell scattered five hits and three runs over the first 1 2/3 innings for Army. Max Doneca earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief, and Michael Delph closed out the final 2 2/3 innings for the save.

GAME NOTES
• Cornell and Army met for the 76th time in program history and the first time since April 3, 2019. Army evened the all-time series at 38-38 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings.

• Hager's multi-home run game was the first by a Cornell player since Kyle Musser '25 and Mark Quatrani both accomplished the feat against Princeton on May 3, 2025, at Booth Field.

• Biben's appearance was his first collegiate outing, pitching the final 2/3 of an inning and allowing one hit, one walk and one hit batter.

UP NEXT
Cornell returns to Booth Field for a three-game series against Dartmouth (5-13, 2-4 Ivy League), beginning with a doubleheader Saturday, April 4, at 11:30 a.m. The series concludes Sunday, April 5, at noon. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.