ITHACA, N.Y. -- Defending Ivy League champion Cornell will begin the 2010 softball season on the diamond when it heads to the George Mason Invitational. The Big Red, under the direction of head coach Dick Blood, will play four games, two games apiece on both Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7.
Cornell will face Bucknell twice and both Marist and the host Patriots once apiece. The Big Red opens its season on Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. contest against Marist, then will meet the Bucknell Bison at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, Cornell will square off with the Bison again at 1:30 p.m. before facing George Mason at 3:30. The games will all be played at the George Mason Softball Complex.
The Big Red will attempt to get off to a similar start as last season when it won its first eight contests by a combined score of 57-6. The Big Red has a 4-2 edge in the series with Bucknell, a 3-0 advantage over Marist and a narrow 7-6 lead over the Patriots.
Marist was picked to place fourth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference thanks to the return of ofur starters, including reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year Nicole DiVirgilio (.286, 5 2B, HR). Head coach Joe Ausanio is in his second season as head coach of the Red Foxes and directed his first team to a 16-33 record (9-7 MAAC).
Bucknell was picked to finish third in the preseason Patriot League poll after registering a 19-32 record overall and 9-11 mark in Patriot League play in 2009. Returning from last year's squad are first-team All-Patriot League selections Elyse Colmenero (.307, 2 HR, 17 RBI) and Alison Ford (.268, 6 HR, 29 RBI). The duo combined for eight home runs and 46 RBIs. Sixth-year head coach Heather Rakosik has a 88-153-1 record at Bucknell and is 160-235-2 in nine seasons overall as a head coach.
The Patriots, like the other three teams in the round-robin, will be making their 2010 debut. GMU went 19-33 overall a season ago and 2-19 in Colonial Athletic Association play to finish eighth in 2009. Sophomore Tori Dudley (.285, 3 HR, 19 RB) leads the team offensively. The return of 11 position players and three pitchers have sixth-year head coach Joe Verbanic optimistic about a quick turnaround. Verbanic has posted an 84-178 record returns his top eight batters from a season ago.
Returning Ivy League Player of the Year Alyson Intihar leads the way at shortstop after batting .394 with 51 runs scored a season ago. The senior joins All-Ivy infielders Ashley Garvey (.399, 10 HR, 62 RBI) and Elise Menaker (.369, 9 HR, 47 RBI) as a virtual murderer's row, while Vanessa Leonhard (.284, 16 RBI, .992 fielding percentage) will be one of the top two-way catchers in the Ancient Eight. Sophomore outfielder Cassie Walisiak (.321, 7 RBI, 9 R) had a sold rookie campaign.
On the mound, 2009 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth Dalrymple (19-5, 1.42 ERA, 174 Ks in 153.0 IP) joins Ali Tomlinson (16-6, 2.36 ERA, 104 Ks in 130.2 IP) in forming a formidable duo. Tomlinson is also one of the team's top options at designated hitter, batting .270 with four home runs and 16 RBI in 2009.
The Big Red finished the 2009 season as the Ivy League South Division champions champions and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning two-of-three games in the Ivy League playoff against the North Division champion Dartmouth at Niemand*Robison Field. Intihar was named the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, while Dalrymple was a unanimous selection as the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year.
Additionally, five players were named to the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District I teams, with Intihar joining Menaker, Jessy Berkey and Meg Risica on the first team. Cornell finished the year 42-13 with a 17-3 mark in Ivy play.
