Game Notes I Live Stats vs. Albany I Live Stats at Yale I Live Stats at Brown

GAME INFORMATION
Games #24-25: Albany vs. Cornell
First Pitch: Wednesday, April 7, at 3:00 p.m.
Site: Niemand•Robison Softball Field, Ithaca, N.Y.
2010 Records: Albany (12-10, 4-2 America East); Cornell (15-8, 3-1 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Cornell won 9-1, March 14, 2010 in Fairfax, Va.

Games #26-27: Cornell vs. Yale
First Pitch: Friday, April 9, at 2:00 p.m.
Site: Dewitt Family Field, New Haven, Conn.
2010 Records: Cornell (15-8, 3-1 Ivy League); Yale (6-13, 2-2 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 20-12
Last Meeting: Cornell won 12-3 (5 innings), March 31, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.

Games #28-29: Cornell vs. Brown
First Pitch: Saturday, April 10, at 12:30 p.m.
Site: Brown Softball Field, Providence, R.I.
2010 Records: Cornell (15-8, 3-1 Ivy League); Brown (12-9, 1-3 Ivy League)
Series Record: Cornell leads 21-14
Last Meeting: Cornell won 6-0, March 28, 2009 in Ithaca, N.Y.

HEAD COACH DICK BLOOD
Head coach Dick Blood is in his 15th season at Cornell (493-216-1, .695) ... Blood is the first Jan Rock Zubrow '77 Head Coach of Softball.

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ITHACA, N.Y. —  Cornell will close out a six-game homestand with a non-league doubleheader against Albany, then returns to Ivy League action this weekend against Yale and Brown. The Big Red will have a chance to surpass the 20-win mark for the 14th straight season under head coach Dick Blood, who continues to move closer to the 500-win plateau.

The Big Red won three of four contests last weekend to open Ancient Eight play, dropping only a one-run contest to Harvard. Cornell will enter the second weekend of conference play just one game behind South Division leader Penn, who was a perfect 4-0 in week one.

Blood enters the week with 493 wins in his 15 seasons, an average of nearly 33 victories a year. He is the winningest active coach among Ivy League mentors at their current schools.   

Cornell has played good softball in all three phases. The team's .968 fielding percentage would rank second in school history if maintained. Reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth Dalrymple is 8-2 on the mound with a 2.68 ERA in 68.0 innings. She is coming off a weekend with 26 strikeouts and just one walk in two Ancient Eight contests.

At the plate, reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Alyson Intihar is batting .438 (29th in Division I). Elise Menaker (.351, 3 HR, 22 RBI) and Kristen Towne (.319, 6 HR, 14 RBI) also have sparked the offense, as has Ashley Garvey (.262,  HR, 14 RBI). Also establishing herself both offensively and defensively has been senior catcher Vanessa Leonhard (.325).

With a showdown with South Division leader Penn coming up next weekend, the Big Red will need to continue its winning ways to keep pace with the Quakers. First up, however, is a matchup against America East contender Albany.

ABOUT ALBANY
• Conference: America East
• Head Coach: Chris Cannata (Albany '85), 16th season.
• Albany brings a 12-10 record (4-2 America East) into Wednesday's non-conference doubleheader.
• Gina Mason is batting .426 with a team-high four home runs and 20 RBI while slugging .656. Only Andrianna Walraven joins Mason in batting above .300 with her .329 average in 22 starts.
• The Great Danes' pitching staff has posted a 3.06 team ERA led by Leah McIntosh (2.28 ERA) and her 5-2 record. McIntosh had 58 strikeouts in just 43.0 innings pitched.
• Albany has won 10 of its last 12 contests.

THE SERIES
• Cornell leads the series 3-2 after earning a 9-1 victory over the Great Danes on March 14.
• The Big Red and the Great Danes first met in 2001.

ABOUT YALE
• Conference: The Ivy League
• Head Coach: Barbara Reinalda (Cal Poly Pomona '80), fifth season.
• Yale opened Ivy play by battering Columbia twice and then getting swept by Penn the second day.
• The Bulldogs' pitching staff leads the league in earned run average (2.84) and opponent batting average (.239).
• The squad has posted a 6-13 overall record and a 2-2 Ancient Eight record.
• Ashley Sloan had a team-best .328 batting average, while Christy Nelson has slammed three home runs and has a .264 batting average.
• Head coach Barbara Reinalda returns seven starters and 12 letter winners from last season's 22-22 squad (11-9 Ivy League).

THE SERIES
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 20-12 and has won 11 straight in the series.
• Yale's last win came during the 2004 campaign, a 2-0 win in New Haven, Conn.
• Cornell won both matchups last season in Ithaca, knocking off the Bulldogs 4-2 in game one and 12-3 in five innings in the second contest.

ABOUT BROWN
• Conference: The Ivy League
• Head Coach: DeeDee Enabenter-Omidiji (Bridgewater State '83), fourth season.
• Brown enters the weekend with a 12-11 mark (1-3 Ivy) and has lost five of its last six contests overall.
• Three Brown regulars are batting better than .330, with a fourth hitting .299 through 23 contests.
• Leading the way is Stephanie Thompson with a .363 average and 14 runs scored, while Kate Strobel is hitting .347 and has hit eight of the team's 13 home runs.
• On the mound, Kristie Chn has been lights out with a 6-0 mark and a 1.63 ERA with 46 strikeouts and just nine walks. Liz DiMascio leads the team in innings (60.0 IP) and strikeouts (70).

THE SERIES
• The Big Red leads the all-time series 21-14.
• Cornell has swept the series each of the last two years, outscoring Brown 25-2 in the four contests, including 17-0 in 2009.

HOME SWEET HOME
• Cornell is 40-7 at home over the last four seasons, including an impressive 17-1 mark in 2009.
• During that span, the Big Red is 25-5 in league action at Niemand•Robison Field.
• Cornellhad a 14-game home game win streak in regular season conference play snapped with a 7-6 loss last Saturday to Harvard.

HIT ATTACK
• Senior Alyson Intihar is closing in on the school's career hits record.
• She enters the week with 223 to stand in second place. She needs four to surpass Lauren May '05, who had 226 in her four-year career.
• Intihar is second on the school's batting average list (.389) and ranks in the top five in runs scored (second, 149), on-base percentage (second, .439), doubles (second, 45) and stolen bases (third, 29). She needs three doubles to tie Cornell's record and is five RBI away from becoming the ninth Cornellian with 100 for a career.

TOUGHEST TO PUNCH OUT
• Cornell senior Alyson Intihar enters the week as the toughest player to strike out in the country.
• Intihar is first nationally as the only player in the country who hasn't struck out in a game this season.
• Intihar hasn't been struck out in 80 at bats.
• Over her career, Intihar has struck out just 32 times in 574 at bats (once every 17.9 at bats).

GOING DEEP
• Freshman OF/C Kristen Towne tied a Cornell single game record with three home runs in an 8-3 win over Bethune-Cookman on March 22.
• She tied the record set three times previously (Allison Batten at Siena in 1998, Kate Varde at Dartmouth in 2001 and Lauren May vs. Penn in 2005).
• Her six home runs leads the team and ranks second in the Ancient Eight and first among freshmen.

MOUND GAMES
• Junior Elizabeth Dalrymple, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, has posted a 27-7 record over her last two seasons.
• She surpassed 300 career strikeouts with a 12 K effort in a win over Harvard and now has 306 to rank fifth all-time at Cornell.

NEXT UP
• Cornell will play another six-game week with a non-conference doubleheader against Syracuse on April 15 at 3:30 p.m. at Niemand•Robison Field, then meets Penn in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18 at 12:30 p.m. on each day in Philadelphia.