Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
ITHACA, N.Y.—The Big Red softball team continued its strong Ivy play on Saturday afternoon with two wins over Penn at the Niemand·Robison Softball Field. Cornell won the first game, 11-3, in five innings, and followed with a 10-7 victory in game two. The Big Red improves to 29-7 overall and 8-2 in the Ivy League, while Penn fell to 9-22-1 and 4-6 against the Ancient Eight. Junior Elise Menaker led the Big Red at the plate with five hits and five RBI, while senior Meg Risica notched four hits and drove in four runs.
Menaker hit .714 for the day, while Risica hit .571. Devon March, Alyson Intihar and Ashley Garvey all totaled four hits on the day. Sophomore Elizabeth Dalrymple earned the win in game one with five strikeouts, while Ali Tomlinson (11-4) pitched six innings in game two for the victory.
Penn was led by Alisha Prystowsky who went 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI. Meg Krasne and Kelsey Wolfe each had two hits and two RBI. Jess Lupardus took the loss in game one, allowing 11 hits in 3.2 innings. Emily Denstedt allowed five runs in the first inning in the second game to take the loss.
Game One: Cornell 11, Penn 3
Junior Alyson Intihar put the Big Red on the board quickly in the bottom of the first inning with a home run over the leftfield fence as the lead-off batter.
The Big Red's one-run lead held until the top of the fourth. With one out, Prystowsky singled to right field and advanced to second on a passed ball. Jamie Boccanfuso singled to drive in the tying run.
Cornell opened the bottom of the inning with a double from Risica to left field. Berkey reached on an error by the Penn leftfielder, and freshman Katie Watts came in to run. Freshman Cassie Walisiak hit a well placed bunt to load the bases. Junior Izzy Pines drove in Cornell's go-ahead runs with a double to right field. With one out, March singled up the middle to drive in another run. Menaker singled and advanced to second as March scored. Garvey hit a double to drive in Menaker and give Cornell a 7-1 advantage.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Sarah Patrick homered to center field. Diana Ark grounded out to the pitcher, before Keiko Uraguchi doubled to left. Krasne hit a single into leftfield to drive in another run for Penn. Prytstowsky popped up to catcher Vanessa Leonhard who made the play to end the Quakers' rally attempt.
The Big Red bats came alive again in the bottom of the fifth inning. Berkey walked to lead off and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Walisiak. Leonhard singled, and senior Jaime Tupino came in to run for Cornell. With two outs, Intihar hit a hard single up the middle to drive in Berkey. March notched a single, and Menaker followed with a deep hit to centerfield to drive in two more runs. Cornell was up 10-3 when Chelsea Ott came in to pitch. Ott's first pitch was wild and got by the Quakers' catcher allowing Tupino to score and end the game with an 11-3 Cornell win.
Menaker was 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI. Intihar and Pines both drove in two runs.
Game Two: Cornell 10, Penn 7
The Big Red opened the bottom of the first inning in game two right where they left off in the first game. Intihar opened with a hard-hit double to center field. March walked and Menaker doubled to center to drive in two quick runs. Garvey followed with a third Cornell double, allowing Menaker to score. Risica slammed a home run to center field to give the Big Red a 5-0 lead before Cailyn Hennessy came in to pitch for Penn.
In the second inning, March singled to right field, and Menaker followed with a single of her own. Risica hit a triple to right field to drive in two more runs. Berkey hit a single to the shortstop and beat the throw allowing another run to score for Cornell. Walisiak reached base on a Penn fielding error, allowing senior Nicole Cheever to single up the middle to put Cornell up, 9-0.
Intihar led off the third inning with a single to shortstop and freshman Morgan Cawley came in to run. March singled and was replaced by Tupino. Garvey notched another double to centerfield to drive in the Big Red's 10th run.
Penn scored one run in the top of the fourth inning. Freshman Lauren Marx came in to pitch for Cornell in the bottom of the fifth inning. With four hits, Penn notched three runs. With a Big Red fielding error, only one run was earned.
The Quakers looked to mount a comeback in the bottom of the sixth inning. Miller reached base on a Cornell fielding error, and she advanced to second on a single by Sarah Patrick. Tomlinson came back in to pitch for the Big Red. Ark walked to load the bases. Uraguchi grounded out to shortstop to drive in a run for Penn. McDugall walked, and Prystowsky doubled to center to drive in two more runs for the Quakers. Tomlinson caught Boccanfuso looking on a well-placed third strike to notch the second out, and the sophomore ended the inning by fielding a ground ball off the bat of Wolfe.
Cornell held Penn scoreless in the seventh inning to hold on for the win.
The Big Red and the Quakers will play two games on Sunday afternoon with a 12:30 p.m. first pitch.
