With April snow storms, sub-freezing temperatures, and relentless winds, Ithaca weather has not been too friendly to the beginning of baseball season in upstate New York.
Nevertheless, Cornell’s baseball team (4-14) will try to overcome these meteorological maladies as neighbor Binghamton (6-8) makes the trip up Route 79 to play a doubleheader this afternoon at 2 p.m.
Originally scheduled at Binghamton, the pair of games was moved in hopes that Hoy Field would be clear of snow by noontime tomorrow. Both coaches, though, are still keeping a watchful eye on the weather, and the final decision of whether to play will not be made until this morning.
If the teams do go ahead with games, senior pitcher Dan Gala will get the nod for Cornell in the first game. With four starts this season, Gala has a 1-3 record with a 14.09 ERA. His best game came early in the year at St. Josephs, as he held the Hawks to just three runs in five innings in order pick up the victory.
The Red will enter the games today frustrated after having lost twelve of their last thirteen games. However, with the beginning of Ivy League play last weekend the team knows it can quickly turn around its season with success in conference games.
“We’re not pleased with our results so far, but we did a pretty good job Saturday,” said Cornell baseball coach Tom Ford in reference to the Red’s double-header split against Harvard this weekend past.
In the first game, it appeared that the Red had emerged from its offensive slump, as the team exploded for five runs in the first inning before cruising to the 7-3 victory. Senior co-captain Jon Finch was once again the offensive star, collecting two hits and two RBI. Meanwhile, sophomore Rocky Collis dominated on the mound giving up just five hits and one earned run in seven innings, to earn the win.
The second game, however, witnessed the return of Cornell’s offensive woes as Harvard pitcher Mike Morgalis shutdown the Red, holding them to just three hits, while going the distance in the 2-0 win for the Crimson.
Ford commented about the difference between his team’s offensive production, saying that, “I was pleased with the way we got out of the blocks early in the first game. In the second game, we really allowed their pitcher to dictate the game to us.”
Having scored only sixteen runs in their last nine games, Cornell still lacks the offensive consistency to back-up its pitching and defense. The lone bright spot for the Red in the second game was the performance of senior pitcher Dan Baysinger, who kept Cornell in the game by only allowing two runs and five hits in his eight innings of work.
Today’s doubleheader should give Cornell ample opportunity to break out of their offensive slump, as Binghamton pitchers have not been able to effectively shutdown their opponents. Overall, batters have hit Bearcat pitching for a combined .304 average while pushing an average of 6.22 earned runs across the plate each game.
Archived article by Scott Reich
Sun Staff Writer