Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. - Jake Cousins turned in his second career complete-game shutout with a season-high ten strikeouts Saturday at Cornell to lead the University of Pennsylvania baseball team to a 5-0 win in game one of this weekend's critical Ivy League Gehrig Division set. The Quakers found themselves on the losing side of a pitcher's duel in the nightcap, falling to the Big Red 2-0 to earn a doubleheader split.

GAME 1
Penn 5, Cornell 0
WP: Jake Cousins (5-1) LP: Tim Willittes (4-2)

GAME 2
Penn 0, Cornell 2
WP: Justin Lewis (3-2) LP: Adam Bleday (2-3)

BY THE NUMBERS
*2 - Jake Cousins recorded his second career complete-game shutout in the game one win, the other coming in his sophomore season against Columbia in a 2-0 win (4/26/2015). Penn is 6-2 in games started by Cousins this season.

*7 - Over the last seven games, the Penn pitching staff has allowed just 13 earned runs in 57 innings pitched for a 2.05 team ERA. Every started has pitched into the sixth inning over that stretch, and the Quakers are 15-7 this season in games that the starting pitcher reaches the sixth.

*18 - With his fifth win of the year, Cousins moves into a tie for fifth on the program's all-time wins list with 18 (Doug Smidt, 1990). The senior has allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his eight starts this season, while pitching into the sixth inning in all eight.
*24 - Tim Graul extended his on-base streak to 24 games in game on with a fifth-inning double to left before the streak came to an end in Saturday's nightcap. Graul hit .446 (41-92) over the season-high stretch, while connecting for 12 doubles and 24 RBIs.
*38 - With his fifth-inning double, Graul moves into a tie for fourth on Penn's all-time doubles list with 38 (Spencer Branigan, 2013).

*273 - Cousins and Adam Bleday combined for 19 strikeouts in Saturday's doubleheader, which brings the team total up to 273 on the season. That total is currently second all-time in a single season in program history and four shy of breaking the all-time mark set in 2014.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One: Penn 5, Cornell 0
The Quakers rode Jake Cousins' second career complete-game shutout in Saturday's game one win, as the senior racked up a season-high ten strikeouts - falling just one shy of his career-high. The senior was dominant from the onset of the series-opener, holding Cornell hitless over three and one-third innings as the Big Red managed just three hits - all singles - in the contest. With the win, Cousins picks up his 18th career victory on the mound, moving him into a tie for fifth all-time on Penn's career wins list.

Penn and Cornell traded scoreless frames in the first inning of the series opener Saturday, but the Quakers were first on the board after manufacturing a run in the top half of the second. Matt O'Neill lined a leadoff single to center and following a walk to Thomas Pellis, Andrew Murnane sacrificed the two into scoring position with one out. Daniel Halevy then stepped in and drove the first pitch of the at-bat to right for a sacrifice fly to score O'Neill and give the Quakers the early advantage.

In the top of the fifth, Matt Tola led off with an infield hit before moving up to third with one out after a double from Tim Graul - extending his on-base streak to 24 games in the process. With the Big Red infield playing in, Sean Phelan grounded a ball to second and after the out at first, Tola took off for home and slid in just under the tag for the Quakers' second run.

The Quakers all but sealed the game one victory in the sixth, pushing across three runs on five hits in the inning to make it a five-run lead. With one out in the frame, Pellis, Murnane and Halevy each singled to load the bases for Tola. The sophomore shortstop delivered in a big way, lining a single right back through the middle to score two before Graul brought in the third run with a single to left-center.

Cousins took the ball for the seventh with a five-run lead and added on to his already stellar outing by striking out the final two batters to reach a new season-high of ten, leading to Penn's fifth-straight win in Ivy play.

Game Two: Penn 0, Cornell 2
Saturday's nightcap proved to be quite the pitcher's duel between left-handers Adam Bleday and Justin Lewis, as each team managed just three hits apiece through the first five innings. All three of those hits for Cornell came in the first inning, as the Big Red strung together three singles after a leadoff walk to take an early 2-0 lead. Adam Bleday was untouchable from that point on as the lefty went on to retire 15 in a row from the end of the first inning through the sixth, while striking out six during that stretch.

The Quakers faced a similar fate offensively, tying a season-low with four hits against Lewis in the game two loss. All five of Penn's hits served as the lone base runners in each of the five innings as the Quakers failed to get the tying run on base in the contest, culminating in a 2-0 loss.

Adam Bleday went the distance for the Quakers, scattering five hits while striking out nine. The senior retired 22 of the last 25 batters he faced despite ending up on the losing end of the decision. Phelan led the Quakers with three hits including a first-inning double, his 12th of the season.

Lewis tossed a complete-game shutout for his third win of the season, while Tommy Wagner and Will Somoneit each recorded two hits and a run batted in.

WHAT'S NEXT
Penn (19-16, 9-5 Ivy) and Cornell (18-13, 7-7 Ivy) wrap up the four-game weekend series Sunday from Hoy Field in a doubleheader set to begin at 12 p.m. Gabe Kleiman (2-0, 5.08) takes the ball in game one followed by Mike Reitcheck (3-3, 3.04) in game two as the Quakers look to strengthen their hold on first place in the Ivy League Gehrig Division standings.

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