Game 1 Box Score (Cornell 4, Columbia 1)
Game 2 Box Score (Cornell 18, Columbia 5 in 5 innings)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team clinched at least a share of the Ivy League South Division title with a doubleheader sweep of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon at Niemand*Robison Field. The Big Red won game one 4-1 with a late rally, then bashed 18 hits in an 18-5 victory in a five-inning game two triumph. Cornell improved to 28-11 (14-2 Ivy) and take a four-game lead with four games to play over Penn. The Big Red will need at least one win this weekend in a four-game set with Princeton, or a loss by the Quakers against Columbia (11-30, 2-14 Ivy).

Elizabeth Dalrymple completed a rarity, winning all four contests in one Ivy League series by allowing just one earned run in 11.0 innings on the day. She struck out nine and walked just one, giving her 19 strikeouts and one walk against the Lions this season. Offensively, Cornell hit .455 as a tea, led by a 5-for-7 day by Alyson Intihar with four runs scored. In all, seven different players had at least two hits on the day, with Devon March collecting four hits in the two victories.

The Big Red scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of game one to break up a 1-1 tie in a pitcher's duel between Dalrymple and Maggie Johnson. A two-run double by Ashley Garvey highlighted the inning with the go-ahead runs, dfollowed by a run-scoring single by March to plate the insurance.

Cornell had jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third when senior Izzy Pines brushed off the snow and sleet that accompanied the start of the game to slam her first career home run on a 3-2 pitch. The Lions answered with the tying run in the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but couldn't take the lead as Dalrymple worked out of the jam. The only run came on a fielder's choice where the Lion runner beat the throw home.

The visitors got off to a great start in game two, pushing three runs across in the top of the first inning. That was the highlight of the afternoon for the Lions, however. Cornell answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning with the big blow coming on the first of two doubles by freshman Kristen Towne. The two-run shot tied the game at 3-3 before Vanessa Leonhard's run-scoring groundout gave Cornell the lead for good. A six-run second thanks to the help of three Columbia errors in the inning extended the lead to 10-3.

Columbia got a pair of runs back, taking advantage of a Cornell error to score two unearned in the third, but Cornell put the game away in the fourth with an eight-run outburst that included nine hits. Elise Menaker crushed a two-run double, setting the school mark for career two-baggers, and Ali Tomlinson hit a two-run pinch-hit homer.

The Big Red will attempt to extend its four-game win streak when it meets Ithaca College on Wednesday, April 28 beginning at 3:30 p.m.