Baseball Weekly Release - Week 10

Ivy League Statistics (pdf)

Photos courtesy of Columbia Sports Information/Media Relations and Cornell and Princeton Athletic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- With one out in the top of the 12th inning in a win-or-go-home contest between Cornell and Princeton that was tied at three, Big Red sophomore Ben Swinford sent the ball deep to left field to propel his team to the Ivy League Championship Series, where it will host Dartmouth on May 5-6.

Princeton swept the Big Red in Ithaca on Friday to move within a game of its opponent. After an off-day on Saturday, the series resumed on Sunday in Princeton, N.J., and the Tigers won game one by a score of 6-0 to move into a tie with the Big Red. Cornell was able to take a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth inning of that final contest, but the Tigers rallied once again to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

Finally in the 12th, Swinford provided the offense and freshman pitcher Kellen Urbon did the rest, closing down the Tigers in the bottom of the 12th to give Cornell (14-6 Ivy) its second outright Lou Gehrig Division title and its first since 2009, when it fell to Dartmouth in the Championship Series, 2-1. The Big Green (14-6) entered the weekend needing just one win against Harvard to clinch the Rolfe Division, which it did with an emphatic 11-3 victory in game one of the four-game series. Dartmouth earned its fifth-straight trip to the Ivy League postseason and is looking for its third League title and first since 2010.

The Series will take place at Cornell's David F. Hoy Field in Ithaca, N.Y., thanks to the Big Red's two-game sweep of Dartmouth on April 1-2.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Columbia junior Dario Pizzano (Saugus, Mass.) finished the season with a bang, hitting .500 (10-of-20) in the final six games of 2012 with a .750 slugging percentage, two walks and a .577 one base percentage. He recorded two doubles, one home run, eight RBI and eight runs.

Pizzano hit safely in each of Columbia's six games and ended his season on a 13-game hitting streak. He clouted the 25th home run of his career, which tied him with former Major Leaguer Gene Larkin for the all-time Columbia record in home runs. Pizzano also played an errorless left field, handling all 11 chances that came his way. He earned his third Player of the Week award and his second this season (March 27).

Pizzano's Weekly Stats
6 GP, .500 AVG. (10-of-20), .750 Slugging %, .577 OBP, 2 BB, 8 Runs, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Junior Zak Hermans (Coppell, Texas) did his part to put the Tigers in a position to reach their second-straight Championship Series, striking out a career-best 14 while giving up just three hits and three walks over nine innings of work in a 1-0 victory for Princeton over Cornell. Opposing batters hit just .107 (3-of-28) against him.

Hermans had runners on the corners with one out in the fifth, then faced second and third with two outs, but recorded the strikeout to get out of the jam. He then pitched 1-2-3 innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth to close out the game and pick up the win, his sixth of the year.

Hermans earned his second Pitcher of the Week award of the season (March 6), which also marks the second of his career.

Hermans' Weekly Stats
1 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SO, 9.0 IP, 3 Hits, 3 BB, 14 K, 0.00 ERA, 1-0

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Cornell freshman pitcher Kellen Urbon (San Diego) was just as instrumental, if not more so, in his team's 12-inning victory over the Tigers than Swinford. Swinford had one hit in the game, albeit a big one. Urbon pitched 6.1 innings without an earned run to give his team a chance at the win.

Urbon fanned five while yielding three hits in the longest collegiate appearance of his career, pitching more innings than the Big Red's starter. He earned the victory, his second of the season, while lowering his ERA to a miniscule 0.59 in the process. Urbon also pitched a scoreless inning to close out a 9-5 win over Binghamton on Wednesday in a non-save situation. He has a program-record nine saves on the season.

Urbon is Cornell's second Rookie of the Week recipient this season, joining Brian McAfee, who was the starter in that deciding contest. McAfee shared the award with Brown's Will Marcal on April 17. Urbon becomes Cornell's first lone winner of the Rookie of the Week honor since Corey Pappel on March 11, 2008.

Urbon's Weekly Stats
2 APP, 7.1 IP, 3 Hits, 2 BB, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 1-0

Columbia senior Jon Eisen earned the annual Blair Bat award after hitting .469 (33-of-74) in Ivy League play. The Lions went 1-2 in batting average during League contests, as Pizzano batted .409 (27-of-66).

HONOR ROLL
Nolan Becker, Yale, Jr., P (New York)
1 APP, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 16 K, 2.57 ERA, 1-0

Jake Carlson, Dartmouth, Sr., OF (The Woodlands, Texas)
6 GP, .600 AVG. (12-of-20), .692 OBP, 5 BB, 7 Runs, 3 RBI, 2 SB

Jack Colton, Harvard, So., OF (Milton, Mass.)
4 GP, .500 AVG. (8-of-16), 2 Runs, 1 SB

Ryan Deitrich, Penn, Jr., OF (Spring City, Pa.)
4 GP, .500 AVG. (7-of-14), .929 Slugging %, .562 OBP, 1 BB, 4 Runs, 6 2B, 2 RBI

Anthony Galan, Brown, So., RHP (Watchung, N.J.)
1 APP, 1 GS, 8.2 IP, 8 Hits, 4 BB, 10 K, 1.04 ERA

Jacob Hunter, Yale, So., INF (Tucson, Ariz.)
5 GP, .400 AVG. (8-of-20), .850 Slugging %, .429 OBP, 1 BB, 4 Runs, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI

Nick Lombardi, Dartmouth, Fr. INF (Saugus, Calif.)
6 GP, .318 AVG. (7-of-22), .545 Slugging %, .348 OBP, 1 BB, 3 Runs, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI

Will Marcal, Brown, Fr., LHP/OF (Lexington, Mass.)
5 GP, .421 AVG. (8-of-19), .526 Slugging %, .500 OBP, 3 BB, 4 Runs, 2 2B, 3 RBI

Stefan Olson, Columbia, Jr., RHP (Ladera Ranch, Calif.)
1 APP, 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 3 Hits, 2 BB, 9 K, 0.00 ERA, 1-0

Thomas Olson, Dartmouth, Fr. RHP (Manhattan, Kan.)
3 APP, 5.2 IP, 2 Hits, 2 K, 0.00 ERA, 2 Svs.

Ben Swinford, Cornell, So., INF/OF (Lake Oswego, Ore.)
Hit game-winning HR against Princeton in the 12th inning to send Cornell to Championship Series

David Toups, Yale, Fr., INF (Houston)
5 GP, .467 AVG. (7-of-15), .667 Slugging %, .579 OBP, 2 BB, 3 Runs, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 5
Ivy League Championship Series
Dartmouth at Cornell (DH), 12:00 PM

Sunday, May 6
Ivy League Championship Series (if necessary)
Dartmouth at Cornell, 1:00 PM

2012 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
March 6 – Brian Billigen (Cornell)
March 13 – Kevin Fortunato (Yale)
March 20 – Sam Mulroy (Princeton)
March 27 – Dario Pizzano (Columbia)
April 3 – Greg Zebrack (Penn)
April 10 – Joe Sclafani (Dartmouth)
April 17 – Jake McGuiggan (Harvard)
April 24 – Jeff Reynolds (Harvard)
May 1 – Dario Pizzano (Columbia)

2012 PITCHERS OF THE WEEK
March 6 – Zak Hermans (Princeton)
March 13 – Vince Voiro (Penn)
March 20 – Stefan Olson (Columbia)
March 27 – Vince Voiro (Penn)
April 3 – Connor Kaufmann (Cornell)
April 10 – Matt Bowman (Princeton)
April 17 – Connor Kaufmann (Cornell)
April 24 – Connor Kaufmann (Cornell)/Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth)
May 1 – Zak Hermans (Princeton)

2012 ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
March 6 – Matt Robinson (Dartmouth)
March 13 – David Toups (Yale)
March 20 – Tyler Servais (Princeton)
March 27 – Connor Cuff (Penn)
April 3 – Adam Frank (Dartmouth)
April 10 – Will Marcal (Brown)
April 17 – Will Marcal (Brown)/Brian McAfee (Cornell)
April 24 – Thomas Olson (Dartmouth)
May 1 – Kellen Urbon (Cornell)

2012 HONOR ROLLS
March 6 – Nick Ferraresi (Columbia), Kevin Fortunato (Yale), Brent Jones (Cornell), Jeff Keller (Dartmouth), Pat Ludwig (Yale), Will Marcal (Brown), Jordan Serena (Columbia), Kevin Tatum (Cornell), Zack Tax (Columbia)

March 13 – Brian Billigen (Cornell), Austin Bossart (Penn), Ryan Deitrich (Penn), Matt Doyle (Harvard), Brent Jones (Cornell), Christopher O'Hare (Yale), Rob Paller (Columbia), Billy Rumpke (Columbia), David Speer (Columbia)

March 20 – Carlton Bailey (Harvard), Zach Boden (Harvard), Austin Bossart (Penn), Chris Cruz (Cornell), Cale Hanson (Yale), Mitch Horacek (Dartmouth), Brent Jones (Cornell), Pat Ludwig (Yale), Thomas Roulis (Dartmouth), Billy Rumpke (Columbia), John Sheridan (Brown), David Turnbull (Dartmouth), Derek Vigoa (Penn), Vince Voiro (Penn), Taylor Wright (Brown)

March 27 – Brian Billigen (Cornell), Spencer Branigan (Penn), Ethan Ferreira (Harvard), Mitch Horacek (Dartmouth), Brent Jones (Cornell), Alex Keller (Princeton), Nick Lombardi (Dartmouth), Pat Lawery (Columbia), Joe Sclafani (Dartmouth), David Spinosa (Columbia), Wes Van Boom (Brown)

April 3 – Matt Bowman (Princeton), Jack Colton (Harvard), Jon Eisen (Columbia), Nick Fornaca (Brown), J.J. Franco (Brown), Joe Lubanski (Yale), Pat Ludwig (Yale), Heath Mayo (Brown), Sam Mulroy (Princeton), Jordan Serena (Columbia), Tyler Servais (Princeton), David Speer (Columbia), Brent Suter (Harvard), Kevin Tatum (Cornell), Vince Voiro (Penn)

April 10 – Tanner Anderson (Harvard), Nolan Becker (Yale), Ryan Brenner (Yale), Jon Eisen (Columbia), Mitch Horacek (Dartmouth), Jake McGuiggan (Harvard), John Mishu (Princeton), Brenton Peters (Cornell), Thomas Roulis (Dartmouth), David Speer (Columbia), David Spinosa (Columbia), Cody Thomson (Penn), Kellon Urbon (Cornell), Greg Zebrack (Penn)

April 17 – Alex Black (Columbia), Cale Hanson (Yale), Kyle Hunter (Dartmouth), Pat Ludwig (Yale), Pat Lowery (Columbia), Chris O'Dowd (Dartmouth), Cody Slaughter (Brown), Blake Thomsen (Princeton), David Toups (Yale), Vince Voiro (Penn), Greg Zebrack (Penn)

April 24 – Tom D'Alessandro (Cornell), Mike DiBiase (Brown), Jon Eisen (Columbia), Kevin Fortunato (Yale), Dan Gautieri (Penn), Zak Hermans (Princeton), Ben Joseph (Yale), Pat Lowery (Columbia), Pat Ludwig (Yale), Dustin Selzer (Dartmouth), Kyle Toomey (Penn), Kellon Urbon (Cornell)

May 1 – Nolan Becker (Yale), Jake Carlson (Dartmouth), Jack Colton (Harvard), Ryan Deitrich (Penn), Anthony Galan (Brown), Jacob Hunter (Yale), Nick Lombardi (Dartmouth), Will Marcal (Brown), Stefan Olson (Columbia), Thomas Olson (Dartmouth), Ben Swinford (Cornell), David Toups (Yale)

NOTES
Championship Series
Dartmouth and Cornell will play a three-game set for the right to represent the Ivy League in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Series will take place at Cornell's David F. Hoy Field in Ithaca, N.Y., thanks to the Big Red's two-game sweep of Dartmouth on April 1-2.

Cornell won its second outright Lou Gehrig Division title and its first since 2009, when it fell to Dartmouth, 2-1. The Big Green earned its fifth-straight trip to the Ivy League Championship Series and is looking for its third League title and its first since 2010.

Madness
College Sports Madness also picks an Ivy League Baseball Player of the Week. Cornell senior Brian Billigen (March 5, March 12) and sophomore Connor Kaufmann (April 9, April 23) have each received the award twice, while Princeton's Sam Mulroy (March 19), Penn's Vince Voiro (March 26), Penn's Greg Zebrack (April 2) and Dartmouth's Chris O'Dowd (April 16) and Jeff Keller (April 30) have each been named once.

Ivy League Championship Series
The 2012 Ivy League Championship series will be the 20th in League history. Beginning in 1993, the Ivy League champion, and NCAA Championship automatic qualifier, was determined by a three-game series played between the winners of the Rolfe and Gehrig Divisions.

All eight Ivy teams have competed in at least one Championship Series since 1993. Princeton (seven titles) and Harvard (four) have combined to win 11 of the 19 Championship Series.

Championship Series Standings

Gone Streaking
Hitting

*-Current (as of April 29)

Reached Base

*-Current (as of April 29)

National Rankings (as of April 29)
Team

Individual