After beginning Ivy League play with a 3-3 record, Cornell (4-18, 3-6 Ivy) faced Brown (7-18, 4-5 Ivy) in a three-game series on April 8 and 9 at Hoy Field. This was a critical series for both teams, with the Red and the Bears looking to gain ground on the rest of the field in the Ivy league standings.
The first game was a high-scoring affair from the get-go. The Red did not get off to the best start, with freshman Ethan Hamil giving up a run in the top of the first off of two hits. However, Cornell wasted no time to respond.
With two outs and nobody on, sophomore Max Jensen started the rally by getting hit by a pitch. After the Red’s next two batters walked, senior third baseman Joe Hollerbach hit a 2 RBI single to give Cornell a 2-1 lead.
Hamil has struggled in his rookie year, coming into the game with an 8.65 ERA across 26 innings. He ended his game after three innings pitched, allowing two earned runs.
But Cornell’s defense let this game out of hand. In the top of the third, the Red committed two errors, allowing the Bears to score seven runs, six of which were unearned.
While the team was able to score eight runs by the end of the game, it was not able to catch up to Brown. Cornell dropped the first game of the series by a score of 12-8.
The second game of the series was a pitchers duel. Freshman southpaw Noah Keller started for the Red and gave the team an impressive seven innings of work. Keller struck out seven and allowed just five hits and a walk.
The one blemish on Keller’s outing came in the fourth inning. After giving up three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs, Brown’s Nathan Brasher hit an RBI groundout to put the Bears on the board.
Although Keller was able to get out of the inning without giving up any more runs, Cornell did not have an answer for Brown’s pitching. While the Red was able to get a runner in scoring position four times throughout the game, the team was unable to cash in. Cornell lost by a final score of 1-0.
In the final game of the series, Cornell managed to get just three hits. The Red was able to score two runs but ultimately lost the game 5-2.
The team continues its season on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. when it squares off against Harvard (11-17, 7-2 Ivy) in Cambridge, Massachusetts at O’Donnell Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.