Coming into the weekend with 21 losses in 30 games, the baseball team knew the feeling of a letdown all too well. What the team did not know was the feeling of when everything clicks — when the team’s pitching, hitting, and fielding all came through.
This weekend against Penn (8-23, 3-13 Ivy), the Red felt a little bit of both.
The Red (8-22, 4-8 Ivy) lost the first of its four games, 3-2, on a wild pitch in the 10th inning of a game scheduled for seven.
What made matters worse for the Red was that senior David Bredhoff was left stranded in the top of the inning after a two-out double.
The two teams were forced into extra innings after neither lineup was able to produce a run until the ninth. In the top of the inning, the Red put together a two-out rally to plate its only two runs of the contest.
Senior Ned VanAllan doubled in freshman Kaleb Hutchinson for the first run, and senior co-captain Jon Finch singled in Van Allan for Red’s second run.
Van Allan and Finch led the way for the Red, as each went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the contest. The Quakers came right back in the bottom of the inning as Nate Moffie hit a two- run blast off of senior Dan Baysinger.
The homer was the only blemish on Baysinger’s day as he went nine innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, while striking out seven.
Junior Matthew Light’s wild pitch plated the winning run, yet freshman Blake Hamilton suffered the loss, as he was responsible allowing the runner who scored to get on base.
“Our goal was to take three out of four,” said senior co-captain Dan Parant. “Even though the first game was really frustrating for us, we tried to have fun and just play baseball.”
The relaxed attitude allowed the Red to reach its goal as the team took the next three games from the Quakers.
The Red won the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader by a 9-2 margin.
Senior Luke Staskal stole the show for the Red as he earned the win by going the distance, while giving up just two runs on four hits, and striking out five.
“Our pitchers did an amazing job all weekend, they were all working hard.” Parant said. “I give them a ton of credit.”
The Red hitters provided plenty of support for Staskal, as the team brought nine runs across the plate on eight hits. Senior Matt Miller sent his only hit of the game out of the park for a three-run shot.
The Red started its scoring with a three-run second inning, as sophomore Seth Gordon knocked in Parant and then scored on a Penn throwing error. Also scoring on the play was Bredhoff to put the Red up for good.
VanAllan was an offensive spark as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while sophomore William Pauly added two hits of his own in four at bats with a run scored.
The Red used timely hitting to defeat the Quakers in the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader, 6-4, in seven innings.
Yet the Red’s patience at the plate led to four runs in the top of the sixth to put Cornell up for good.
Four straight walks led to the first run in the four-run sixth inning, and a single by Bredhoff knocked in Parant and Finch to even the game up at four. The Red took the lead on an RBI single by Miller to score sophomore Josh Foster.
The Red tacked on a run in the top of the seventh as Hutchinson drove a pitch out of the yard for a solo shot.
Hutchinson was the catalyst for the Red offense, as he went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. He sparked the team’s big sixth inning by leading off with a walk.
“I think that’s what a good team does,” Parant said. “You don’t always have a good day, sometimes you need guys to come up clutch, which is what Kaleb did.”
Junior Tad Bardenwerper got the win for the Red after five innings of work, giving up eight hits and four runs. Classmate Conor Kelly went two innings, striking out two to earn the save.
The Red finished its three-win weekend by completing the sweep with a 5-1 victory in yesterday’s night cap.
Senior Dan Gala pitched a complete game, giving up one run on 10 hits, striking out three. With the win, Gala improved to 2-4 on the season.
At the plate, the Red was led by Finch, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs batted in. Finch singled home Van Allan in the top of the fourth after Van Allan doubled home Hutchinson. The runs were all the Red needed, as the Quakers could bring just one runner across the plate.
The Red knocked the Quaker pitching around for 12 hits, including three for extra bases. Gordon, who went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Parant, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored, both had doubles. After taking three of four games from Penn, the Red is back in the thick of things in the Gehrig Division going into a Wednesday doubleheader with LeMoyne.
“We’re looking to take these three wins and roll with them,” Parant said.
Archived article by Chris Mascaro
Sun Assistant Sports Editor