The baseball team entered yesterday’s doubleheader with Brown with a 4-6 Ivy League record — only two games behind Gehrig Division leader Princeton. However, the Red’s loss in game one to the Bears (17-14, 9-2 Ivy) at Hoy Field by a 16-5 score certainly did not help its cause in making up the ground. The second game was suspended in the eighth inning due to rain, with the game tied at five. It is now the fourth time that the twin bill with the Bears has been rescheduled due to inclement weather.
“[Brown] is a really good team,” said head coach Tom Ford. “They swing the bats extremely well and they are really solid defensively, too.”
Brown’s bats lived up to their reputation in the first game, as the Bears scored 12 combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings alone, to all but decide the outcome. Entering yesterday’s doubleheader, Brown led the Ivy League with a .301 team-batting average and 201 runs scored.
However, even though the final score ended up very one-sided, the contest was actually tied up at three heading into the fifth inning.
“It was a pretty good ball game there for a little bit,” Ford said. “But then, they took over and swung the bats very well. We just didn’t have an answer and the game kind of got out of hand there on us. It was kind of tough going for us.”
Junior Rocky Collis got the start for the Red, allowing seven runs — only four of which were earned — in his 4 1/3 innings of work. Brown kicked off the scoring in the first inning, with the help of an error by Collis. With a runner on second with two outs, the Bears smacked back-back-run scoring hits — the first of which was delivered by Paul Christian. The junior second baseman had a monster offensive day for the Bears, going 4-4 in game one, while driving in a pair of runs.
In the bottom of the first, the Red responded with two of runs of its own to tie the game. Junior Seth Gordon led off the inning with a triple to centerfield and was driven in on an RBI-single by his double-play counterpart, senior Matt Miller. Junior Michael Weiss knocked in the second run of the inning with a double to left field.
Collis ran into more trouble in the second inning, allowing the first three hitters to reach base, as the Bears took a 3-2 advantage. However, with runners on first and third, Collis worked his way out of the jam with no further damage by picking off the runner at first base and striking out two hitters.
The Red would tie the game in the bottom of the third on a solo homerun by freshman Brian Kaufman — the first of his collegiate career. Kaufman was recently named the Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Week.
However, with the game tied at three, the Bears would break it open, outscoring the Red 13-2 in the final three innings. Cornell brought in four different relievers after Collis exited the game, but they were unable to slow down Brown’s relentless offensive attack.
“Even though we were out of it, I think we bunched a couple of hits together here and there,” Ford said. “We only scored five runs. Hopefully, that is enough to at least keep us in games, but we have to pitch a little better.”
In the second game, it looked as if the Bears were going to continue their offensive dominance, posting three runs in the first inning off Cornell freshman starter Walker Toma. However, Toma settled down and pitched well in his first career start. From the second inning on, the Cornell starter retired 12 of the 16 batters he faced, keeping his team very much in the game.
“He gave up four hits in the first inning,” Ford said. “He kind of left some balls up. After that though, he pitched out of a jam in the second and then he settled in for a little bit.”
The Red got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher William Pauly. The drive by Pauly nearly got by Brown’s centerfielder before he reached up and made a potentially game-saving catch. Senior Conor Kelly drove in the second run of the frame on a RBI double down the left field line.
Cornell added runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take a 4-3 lead, before again falling behind on a two-run homer by Christian. The Red tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single by Kelly, his second of the game.
“This was a pretty good ball game,” Ford said. “They got ahead again but we came back. We put some pressure on them. Obviously a 5-5 ball game is a pretty tight game. We certainly approached things a little bit better in the second game with the bats and on the mound.”
A light drizzle that had not affected the game in the middle innings of game two turned into a downpour and the contest was suspended with Brown at bat in the eighth inning. The Bears have runner on first and second with one out and a 3-2 count on the hitter. The game will resume today at 12 p.m.
Archived article by ryan Pepper
Sun Assistant Sports Editor