After what has been a rough season for Cornell baseball, it finally seems as though the team is beginning to find its confidence both at the plate and on the mound. Sparked by Pittsburgh, Pa. native junior center fielder Brian Billigen, the Red went 2-for-2 against a strong Penn team in its first doubleheader sweep of the season. On Monday, Cornell shut out the Quakers in game one, 3-0, before a game two rout of its Ivy foe at Hoy Field, 13-4.

In the first game, the Red (9-27, 6-10 Ivy League) struck early with back-to-back home runs from senior designated hitter Mickey Brodsky and junior first baseman Frank Hager to take a 2-0 lead on the Quakers (17-19, 8-8). Cornell added another run in the third when Billigen reached home on a throwing error.

That turned out to be all the offense that senior pitcher Taylor Wood would need. The right-hander worked a complete game four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking only one as he notched his third victory of the season. Throughout the game, Wood displayed his maturity and composure, as he pitched out of a potential game-changing jam in the fifth inning, striking out pinch-hitter Mike Mariano and getting Greg Zerbrack to ground into a fielder’s choice for the final two outs.

“This season has been a like a roller coaster, and in baseball, anything can happen,” Billigen said after going 4-for-5 in the series and scoring five runs on the day. “Things finally started coming together, and we knew that Penn needed to win against us to stay in contention, so we used that as motivation.”

Game two started off in a similar fashion, as Cornell went ahead early, 1-0, in the first inning off a sacrifice fly from Brodsky, who drove in Billigen from third. The Red then exploded in the second inning, scoring four more runs to extend the lead, 5-0. The inning was highlighted by Billigen, who hit his eighth homerun of the season, and junior shortstop Marshall Yanzick, who went 5-for-5 in the game.

The Quakers would respond in the third, scoring three times against freshman Connor Kaufmann, shrinking the deficit to three runs against a surging Cornell squad. The Red rebounded in the fourth, scoring three more runs and expanding its lead to a margin of five, 8-3. The team never looked back, adding on four more runs in the fifth inning to win the game in a landslide, 12-3.

“Throughout the year, we would have one game where our pitching would be on, but our hitting would be off. We would have another game where we would swing the bats well, but wouldn’t be able to pitch,” said sophomore catcher Chris Burke. “In the Penn series, we were finally able to bring everything together and have a complete game.”

Despite the sweep, the Red saw its chase for the Ivy League Gehrig Division crown come to an end, as Princeton swept Columbia on Monday to clinch the title. With four games remaining in league play, Cornell trails the Tigers by five games; however, the Red did provide a serious blow to Penn’s title hopes, as the Quakers are now four games behind the Tigers with four to play.

The Red had its Tuesday matchup with Binghamton postponed due to weather, and will close out its Ivy League schedule with a four-game set against Princeton, beginning this afternoon at 12 p.m. After two games in Princeton, N.J., both squads will head to Hoy Field for a doubleheader to complete the series.