Cameron Pollack / Sun Senior Photographer

Tim Willittes threw six solid innings in game one, but the Red dropped a 4-2 game to Dartmouth.

April 15, 2018

Urbon Shines on Mound in Game 2, Baseball Drops Series to Dartmouth

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Battling through yet another cold-weather weekend, Cornell baseball dropped two out of three to Dartmouth at home, falling further in the Ivy League standings.

In the early game, Cornell (5-16-1, 2-7 Ivy) couldn’t plate a run until they scored two in the seventh. The Green plated two to break a scoreless tie in the top of the third and made it 3-0 in the sixth. Tim Willittes threw six innings, turning in a quality start for the Red.

After a 4-2 game one loss, sophomore pitcher Seth Urbon shined in game two, coming an out short of a complete game in an 8-3 victory. Urbon held Dartmouth (9-15-1, 5-3-1) scoreless through seven before surrendering a run in the eighth and a pair in the ninth.

“[Urbon was] very aggressive with his fastball,” said head coach Dan Pepicelli after game two. “He got tired at the end, we tried to get him a complete game but very aggressive with his fastball and when you have good fastball command you can keep the count moving.”

Urbon worked himself in and out of trouble in the top of the first, but then sat down 13 straight Green hitters. Dartmouth’s Clay Chatham threw three perfect innings, downing the Cornell lineup with ease. In a contest that looked like a pitcher’s duel in the early going, the Red got the bats going in the fourth, plating four runs on five hits, highlighted by senior Will Simoneit’s two-run double.

“Two-out base hits make a game,” Pepicelli said. ‘We strung together a bunch of two-out hits for the four-run inning, and even just kept tacking on so we wouldn’t allow them any momentum.”

Cornell scored all of its fourth-inning runs with two outs. Simoneit plated two with a gapper, then junior first baseman Josh Arndt and senior third baseman Trey Baur added RBI singles. On Arndt’s single, Simoneit aggressively tried to score from second and appeared to be way out as he rounded third. But the ball got away from the Dartmouth catcher and Simoneit leaped over the catcher to score.

The Red got hits from spots one through seven in the batting order in game two. After the big fourth frame, the Red tacked on runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings.

“Seeing four runs on the board, it made it a lot easier to pitch,” Urbon said. “I could be even more aggressive at that point. I didn’t feel like I had to be as fine, it was really big seeing those runs on the board and they kept it going.”

The Red and Green were able to get in all three contests this weekend despite cold and windy weather, days after Cornell had a game called a tie due to darkness and a weekend after Urbon had to pitch through a pair of snow delays.

“Today was no picnic either,” Pepicelli said after Saturday’s doubleheader. “It’s just not a part of what we’re worried about right now.”

Looking to clinch a series win in Sunday’s rubber match, the Green got out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the first inning, aided by two Cornell errors.

“[The win is] good leading into tomorrow, but it’s all about your next at-bat,” Pepicelli said after game two. “We’re in quite a hole right now in terms of what we’ve been able to do so far at this point in the year, so it’s just about putting together some consistency from here on out.”

Senior designated hitter Dale Wickham had three hits in game three, including a home run, but the Red’s four total errors and rough start gave them a 5-3 loss, putting them deeper in the Ivy League cellar. Sophomore Jeb Bemiss got the start in the finale, surrendering four runs — two of them earned — in two innings on the mound.