Penn (21-22, 11-10 Ivy League) vs. Cornell (16-19, 11-10 Ivy League)
When	May 18
Where	New York, N.Y. // Robertson Field at Satow Stadium
Watch	Saturday
Radio	None
Live Stats	Saturday
Notes	Cornell | Penn

 

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day	Cornell		Penn
Sat. 3 p.m. ET	RHP Ethan Hamill (3-3, 5.74 ERA)		RHP Ryan Dromboski (3-5, 7.39 ERA)

ITHACA, N.Y. — Coming off a victory in its first postseason game in 12 years, the Cornell baseball team will look to clinch a spot in the championship round of the 2024 Ivy League Tournament this afternoon when it squares off against Penn in the winner's bracket game at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
Freshman third baseman Luke Johnson's two-run single in the ninth inning broke open a 7-7 tie to aid Cornell to a 9-7 victory over Princeton early Friday afternoon at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium in the opening game of the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Tournament.

Nine different Cornell players registered base hits in the victory, highlighted by a three-run home run by freshman catcher Mark Quatrani, who was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Year and a First Team All-Ivy selection on Thursday afternoon. Junior outfielder John Quinlan and junior infielder Max Jensen — both of whom were unanimously named First Team All-Ivy selections — each chipped in doubles.

Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Ellison improved to 4-0 on the year after pitching the final 1.2 innings, striking out one batter, issuing one walk, and hitting one Princeton batter. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Noah Keller allowed two runs on three hits, issuing a trio of walks and struck out a pair over his four-inning outing.

BACK TO POSTSEASON BASEBALL
Cornell is playing baseball in a postseason setting for the fifth time in program history (1977, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2024) and the first instance since 2012, when it clinched the Ivy League's automatic qualifier for the 2012 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament after defeating Dartmouth in the best-of-three-game 2012 Ivy League Championship Series.

A win this afternoon over Penn would match Cornell's most postseason victories in a single season, equaling outputs by squads from 1977, 2009, and 2012. Yesterday's win over Princeton was the Big Red's first win in a postseason setting since defeating Dartmouth, 3-1, in 11 innings to solidify the Big Red's spot in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history, thanks to Chris Cruz's walk-off two-run home run.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Friday's victory over Princeton marked the 100th coaching win for Dan Pepicelli as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Cornell Baseball, becoming the Big Red's fourth skipper to amass 100 career wins with the program.

Pepicelli joined the likes of Ted Thoren (515 wins from 1962-90), current associate head coach Tom Ford (263 wins from 1991-2008), and former Big Red standout infielder and head coach Bill Walkenbach (130 wins from 2009-15).

MOST HEAD COACHING WINS AT CORNELL
Program History
• 515, Ted Thoren (1962-90)
• 263, Tom Ford (1991-08)
• 130, Bill Walkenbach (2009-15)
• 100, Dan Pepicelli (2016-Present)
• 87, Paul Eckley (1925-36)
• 84, Royner Greene (1949-56)

ALL-IVY AWARDS
Juniors Max Jensen and John Quinlan were unanimously voted as First Team All-Ivy players, while freshman catcher Mark Quatrani was also voted to the team and was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Year.

Quatrani being named Rookie of the Year marked just the third time in program history that a Cornell player has been named the conference's top newcomer. Only Bill Walkenbach (1995) and Kellen Urbon (2012) were the two previous Big Red players to receive the honor.

The trio of First Team All-Ivy selections signifies the fifth overall time (1969, 1971, 1977, 1982, 2024) that Cornell has received at least three first team all-league players since first being instituted in 1960. Mike Branca (first base), Marlin McPhail (second base), John DeMayo (outfield), and Greg Myers (pitcher) all received First Team All-EIBL honors in the last instance that Cornell had at least three first team all-league selections.

TRIO OF FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE HONOREES
Program History (Since 1960)
• 1969 — Ed Cott (catcher), Chris Ritter (outfield), Pete Watzka (third base), Bob Witkoski (shortstop)
• 1971 — Tom Boettcher (third base), Pete Watzka (outfield), Bob Witkoski (second base)
• 1977 — Gary Gronowski (pitcher), Dave Johnson (outfield), Ken Veenema (second base)
• 1982 — Mike Branca (first base), John DeMayo (outfield), Marlin McPhail (second base), Greg Myers (pitcher)
• 2024 — Max Jensen (first base), Mark Quatrani (catcher), John Quinlan (outfield)

DIGGING THE LONG BALL
Cornell has hit 47 home runs this season, marking the most by the Big Red in a single season in the program's 153-year history, besting the previous mark of 38 (2009).

Freshman catcher Mark Quatrani registered the record-breaking blast with a leadoff home run in Cornell's 14-11 setback in the opener of an April 27 twin bill against Columbia in Ithaca.

Of the 47 home runs hit this season, seven have been grand slams, the most in a season on record in program history. The grand slam total matches the combined output over the previous nine years combined.

RAREFIED COMPANY
Junior outfielder John Quinlan and junior infielder Max Jensen have been two of Cornell's most reliable hitters since the beginning of Ivy League play against Princeton on March 22.

Quinlan mustered 42 hits in conference games, assuming Cornell's program record for the most hits in conference play in program history. He is also just one of two players in EIBL / Ivy League history with 40-plus hits in conference games in a season, joining former Dartmouth infielder Tyler Cox, who had 45 hits in 2022.

Jensen has also excelled against Ancient Eight opponents this season, amassing 37 base knocks to place him in a five-way tie with Yale's Dan Thompson (1995), Brown's Joe Lomuscio (2019), Columbia's Joe Engel (2019), and Harvard's Jake Suddleson (2019) for the sixth-most hits in EIBL / Ivy League history.

The Cornell duo is the first pair of teammates in the history of the EIBL and Ivy League to record at least 37 hits in the same season.

MOST HITS IN CONFERENCE PLAY IN SEASON
EIBL / Ivy League History
• 45, Tyler Cox, Dartmouth (2022)
• 42, John Quinlan, Cornell (2024)
• 39, Matt Kutler, Brown (2005)
• 38, Tom Grandieri, Penn (2010)
• 38, Peter Matt, Penn (2019)
• 37, Dan Thompson, Yale (1995)
• 37, Joe Lomuscio, Brown (2019)
• 37, Joe Engel, Columbia (2019)
• 37, Jake Suddleson, Harvard (2019)
• 37, Max Jensen, Cornell (2024)

With his RBI double in the fourth inning of yesterday's win over Princeton, Jensen (50) joined Quinlan (52) as the third pair of Big Red teammates with 50-plus hits in a season, joining Ken Veenema (56) and Dave Johnson (50) in 1977 and Brian Billigen (57) and Frank Hager (52) in 2012. Both instances resulted in Cornell earning a spot in that year's NCAA Tournament.

TEAMMATES WITH 50+ HITS IN A SEASON
Cornell Program History
• 1977 — Ken Veenema (56) and Dave Johnson (50)
• 2012 — Brian Billigen (57) and Frank Hager (52)
• 2024 — John Quinlan (52) and Max Jensen (50)

First-year catcher Mark Quatrani has hit 10 home runs during his freshman campaign, the most ever recorded by a first-year player in Cornell program history.

Quatrani's 10 home runs have eclipsed Cornell's previous freshman single-season home run record of six, which stood for 29 years after Bill Walkenbach, who later became the Big Red's head coach from 2009-15, hit six home runs in 1996.

Q'S PROVIDING THE A'S
Junior outfielder John Quinlan and freshman Mark Quatrani have been one of Cornell's most reliable hitters since the beginning of Ivy League play against Princeton on March 22.

Quinlan has hit for a .446 average over his last 22 games, going 45-of-101 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs, and 16 RBI.

This season, Quinlan's .424 average (42-for-99) against Ancient Eight opposition ranked second in the Ivy League behind Penn's Wyatt Henseler (.438), who claimed this year's Blair Bat, awarded to the Ivy League's batting average leader in regular-season conference games.

Quatrani, who batted .333 with seven home runs in Ivy League contests, hit the most home runs in regular-season conference games in program history, besting six-home run outputs produced by Raul Gomez (2001), Brian Kaufman (2006) and Sam Kaplan (2022).

Quatrani's seven Ivy League home runs in conference contests ranked third behind Henseler (10) and Columbia's Sam Miller (8).

Paired with his home runs, Quatrani's 30 RBI led all Ivy League batters in RBI while ranking sixth in EIBL / Ivy League history. The 30 ribbies by Quatrani are the most by a Cornell player in conference games in a single season, surpassing the previous mark of 29 initially set in 2006 by Brian Kaufman.

QUINLAN'S HOT BAT
Junior outfielder John Quinlan entered this weekend's tournament with a 1.73 hits per game average, ranking as the fourth-highest average among Division I hitters that have played in at least 75 percent of their team's games.

Rutgers' Joshua Kuroda-Grauer paced the nation with his 1.80 hits-per-game average, ahead of Austin Peay's Clayton Gray (1.78) and Georgia phenom Charlie Condon (1.76), who was one-hundredth of a point ahead of Quinlan.

Harvard's Ben Rounds has the second-highest hits-per-game average by an Ivy League player (1.61), which ranks 28th nationally.

HITS PER GAME AVERAGES
This Season (Entering Weekend)
• 1.80, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (Rutgers)
• 1.78, Clayton Gray (Austin Peay)
• 1.760, Charlie Condon (Georgia)
• 1.759, John Quinlan (Cornell)
• 1.73, Dean Ferrara (Fairfield)
• 1.72, JT Marr (Penn State)
• 1.71, Ben Watson (Virginia Tech)
• 1.69, Jon Jon Gazdar (Austin Peay)

TOUGH TO SET DOWN
Junior infielder Max Jensen entered this weekend's tournament ranked as the 23rd-toughest batter to strikeout in Division I baseball, averaging a strikeout every 12.0 at-bats.

Among Ivy League hitters, Jensen's average was 2.75 points better than Yale's Alec Atkinson (16 SO in 148 at-bats — 9.8 percent), who ranked 86th nationally.

Entering this weekend, Jensen had an Ivy League-leading 7.0 strikeout rate (11 strikeouts in 158 plate appearances) that ranked 22nd nationally.

TOUGHEST TO STRIKEOUT
Ivy League Leaders (Entering Weekend) - Strikeouts per AB
• 12.0, Max Jensen (Cornell)
• 9.3, Alec Atkinson (Yale)
• 8.4, Nathan Cmeyla (Dartmouth)

LOOKING TO EXTEND THEIR STREAKS
Senior catcher Nathan Waugh enters today riding a 39-game on-base streak, the longest by a Big Red player since Nathan Ford concluded his Big Red career with a 42-game streak over the 2008 (last two games) and 2009 (40 games).

During his on-base streak, which dates back to last season, Waugh is slashing .286/.413/.503 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 34 RBI, 40 runs, and 27 walks.

Junior infielder Max Jensen owns a 15-game hit streak entering today's contest, marking the second Big Red player to register hits in at least 15 consecutive games played this season, joining Waugh, who had a 19-game hit streak over the final four games of 2023 and the first 15 games of 2024.

WHEN IT RUNS, IT POURS
Cornell has shown a knack for scoring runs in bundles this season, as 207 of its 248 runs have come in multi-run innings (83.5 percent of its run production).

The Big Red has 62 multi-run innings this season and has logged at least one inning with two-plus runs in 30 of its 35 games (85.7 percent of games played). All nine of the Big Red's runs in yesterday's win came when scoring two-plus runs.

SCOUTING PENN
Penn enters today's contest with a 21-22 overall record and concluded Ivy League play tied with Cornell and Yale for third place with its 11-10 mark in Ancient Eight play.

Wyatt Henseler, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and First Team All-Ivy selection, leads the Quakers offensive attack with his .372 batting average, 20 home runs, and 49 RBI. Nick Spaventa (.327/.415/.510), Davis Baker (.306/.379/.505), and Ryan Taylor (.304/.399/.472) all boast batting averages north of .300.

Cole Zaffiro (4-4, 5.07 ERA) has started in all 12 of his appearances, while Ryan Dromboski  (3-5, 7.39 ERA) has also started in each of his 11 outings on the mound. Zaffiro leads the team in innings pitched (65.2) and strikeouts (80), while two-way player Carson Ozmer has held opponents to a Quakers-best .210 batting average in his 14 relief appearances. Eli Trop (3-2, 3.93 ERA) has held the opposition to a .217 batting average over his 16 outings out of the bullpen.

135 YEARS, 230 MILES, 295 MEETINGS
Cornell and Penn have met 295 times prior to today's postseason contest. The Quakers own the series lead, 165-128-2, and have won six of the last nine contests.

With a win over Penn this afternoon, Cornell will have its first three-game win streak over the Quakers since winning the final three games of a four-game Ivy League series in 2013.

Sophomore outfielder Caden Wildman and freshman catcher Mark Quatrani were respectively named the Ivy League's Co-Player and Rookie of the Week after having successful weekends for the Big Red against Penn in mid-April.

Wildman had a historic performance against the Quakers, hitting two grand slams in as many innings in the nightcap of an April 13 doubleheader before registering a bases-clearing double, giving Cornell the lead for good in its 11-9 victory to earn the series victory.

Quatrani hit for a .462 average against Penn, going 6-for-13 with a double and driving in six Cornell runs.