Cornell loose and ready for regional play

On Thursday morning, a day before the Cornell baseball program’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 35 years, number 34 Bill Walkenbach stepped into the cage for a little batting practice.

Walkenbach is tied atop the career home run record list at Cornell as well as being in the top five in nine other offensive categories.

But Walkenbach graduated in 1998, and is now the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball for his alma mater and has been for four seasons.

“I hope it makes them play loose,” Walkenbach said about his cuts in the cage. “I heard the ball was flying out today and I saw 355 to right center, I couldn’t quite go oppo(site field) there but any chance I can get in there in the cage and relive the glory days a little bit I do it. My swing’s a little long and it’s got a little golf swing in it so I need a little work before I’m ready to go up against 95 miles per hour.”

His team on the other hand, is a much more prepared to handle college level pitching. The Big Red have put together the best season in school history with a 31-15-1 record and their first ever Ivy League championship.

“I’ve been chasing an Ivy League title since I was a freshman in fall of 1994,” Walkenbach said. “So it’s a 17 and a half year journey for me which makes it taste extra sweet. It’s been a tremendous year for our program, our school, our alumni – I’m especially happy for our alumni to experience this with us. We’ve had a lot of support over the years and we wouldn’t be here without our alumni.”

Leading the team at the plate this year has been centerfielder Brian Billigen with a .362 average and 38 RBI. He’s also hit five homeruns and a team-high three triples.

“Brian is one of the best players we’ve ever had in our program,” Walkenbach said. “I expect him to be a hall of famer in Cornell athletics in ten years or so. It’s great to have him on the team in the fact that not only is he a great player and he obviously sets the tone on the field with his play but he’s also just a goofball.”

Billigen, who also leads the team in hits, slugging percentage and steals, keeps his teammates loose which will come in handy as they face the toughest challenge of the season against North Carolina Friday 50 minutes after the conclusion of the ECU-St. John’s game at Boshamer Stadium.

“He’s never serious about anything except when he gets in the box, diving for a ball in center field or stealing second base,” Walkenbach said. “It helps loosen our ball club up, everybody has a lot of fun around him. He’s just been a godsend for us from a talent and a chemistry perspective.”

As for Billigen, he’s excited to be in the Chapel Hill Regional and to be a part of his team’s historic season.

“This team is special – we did something incredible actually – just to roll with it as long as possible we’re going to do our best,” Billigen said.

“Its ACC baseball, we know they’re going to be good. We know we’re going to see some good pitching, we know that they’re going to swing the bats. But this facility is beautiful, we love playing on nice fields.”