Last weekend the baseball team came away empty-handed against two Ivy League opponents on the road.

This weekend the Bulldogs will try their luck against some Ivy foes at home, as they host Cornell and Princeton in Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders, respectively.

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Although three of the four Yale losses last weekend were close, third-baseman Andy Megee ’11 said that was not much compensation.

“We did not perform well last weekend,” he said. “We’re obviously looking to do better this weekend.”

After a hot start to the season, the Bulldogs are just 1–5 over their past six games. Despite their recent struggles, though, they still rank second in the Ivy League in pitching and third in hitting.

On Tuesday Yale got back on the winning side of things with a 7–3 win over Sacred Heart in the afternoon game. The Bulldogs fell to the Pioneers in the nightcap, 5–4 in the seventh and final inning.

Last year Yale had two tough midweek games against Cornell. The Bulldogs eked out a 3–2 win before losing the next contest 4–2.

Offensively the Elis have an advantage this year over the Big Red batters, as Yale’s team batting average is .308, compared to Cornell’s .269. But the Bulldogs say that their toughest challenge will come against pitcher Corey Pappel, who leads all Ivy League starters with a 2.35 ERA.

The Elis last faced Pappel two years ago, when they got one run and four hits in five innings against the righthander.

“[Pappel] is one of the best pitchers in the Ivies so we are looking forward to that challenge,” Andrew Moore ’11 said.

Yale has its fair share of firepower, though, as it leads the Ivies with 27 home runs — 10 more than any other team.

Cornell is 2–3 in the past week after splitting their doubleheaders against Dartmouth and Harvard and then losing 10–9 on Tuesday to Binghamton in 12 innings.

Princeton is also 2–3 in its last five after splitting their Dartmouth and Harvard doubleheaders and then losing to Rutgers on Tuesday, 10–2.

The Tigers have struggled on the road so far this year, going 5–12 when away from home.

None of their starters have more than one win this year and only two have ERAs under 4.50.

Last year Yale split its doubleheader with the Tigers, winning 6–0 before falling 9–3.

Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at noon at Yale Field.