Cornell center fielder Brian Kaufman was just in the zone.
"I was seeing the ball really well today," Kaufman, a sophomore, said. "I was comfortable at the plate."
And that was not good news for the Penn baseball team; Kaufman went off for 12 hits in 20 at-bats with 18 RBIs while the Big Red took three of four from the Quakers at Meiklejohn Stadium this weekend.
Penn pitching was rocked for 56 runs in 32 total innings, and Kaufman was the main culprit. Of his 12 hits, 11 were for extra bases, including a grand slam, two solo home runs and five triples.
While the Quakers did manage an 11-6 win behind the pitching of Sean Abate and two big offensive innings, the weekend left them in a precarious position for the Lou Gehrig Division title race.
The 5-11 Quakers now sit two full games behind 5-7 Princeton, while 4-8 Cornell maintained a hold on second place.
All weekend, the theme was Cornell hitting overmatching Penn pitching. It began right from the top as second baseman Seth Gordon reached base in 10 of his 11 plate appearances on Saturday.
And from there, the hot hitting spread through the lineup.
"Once we got a feel, it seemed to get contagious," Big Red coach Tom Ford said.
"We got burned all weekend because we threw the ball over the middle of the plate, up," coach John Cole said.
Penn now faces Rider tomorrow before heading to Princeton for the final Ivy League weekend and one last chance to salvage its championship hopes.
Game 1: Cor. 10, Penn 1
Cornell ace Rocky Collis limited Penn to two hits and one run in seven innings as the Penn bats fell silent, especially at the top of the lineup.
With Abate and second baseman Ken-Ichi Hino's doubles being the only hits of the day, Penn's 1-through-7 hitters went a combined 0-for-18.
Contrast that with the top of Cornell's lineup, which saw Gordon, Kaufman and freshman designated hitter Brant McKown, who went 7-for-9 with seven RBIs and six runs scored.
Michael Gibbons fell to 1-4 for the Quakers, giving up five runs in his three innings of work.
Game 2: Cor. 23, Penn 10
With the pitching issues that come from four games in two days, the coaching staff had to keep sophomore hurler Bret Wallace out there through the tough times.
The result for Wallace was 16 hits and 15 runs allowed in his 3 2/3 innings.
After falling behind 9-2, Penn got back into the game with a six-run, six-hit third, but the Big Red struck back with six in the fourth.
Control was a major issue for Wallace and the four relievers who followed as Penn pitchers walked five batters and hit seven.
Game 3: Penn 11, Cor. 6
The Quakers were able to break their skid yesterday afternoon, thanks to Abate's pitching and some timely hitting.
Abate scattered seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, giving Penn its only quality start of the weekend.
"I just tried to keep the ball down," Abate said, adding that his goal was to let Cornell hitters get themselves out.
Penn jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second inning thanks to just one hit and three walks, an error and a wild pitch.
After Cornell tied it, Josh Corn, Kyle Armeny, Tim May and Abate broke it open with four straight hits.
Game 4: Cor. 17, Penn 3
It was back to old habits in yesterday's nightcap as shaky pitching and defense fueled the rout.
Nineteen hits and six errors led to 17 Cornell runs. The big blow was a grand slam by Kaufman as part of a seven-run fifth that gave the Big Red a 12-2 lead.
For the second straight day, Kaufman finished a game a single short of the cycle.
The bright spot for the Quakers was Abate, who entered the weekend batting .086 but ended his year-long slump at the plate with his 4-for-4 game.
