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ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red softball team is off for a wild week, with the team scheduled to play eight games in six days, starting today when it heads to Albany for a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. Cornell will face Syracuse for two on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., then will close out its 12-game road swing with four inter-division games at Columbia on Saturday and Sunday.

In the circle, two-time Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth Dalrymple is 10-5 with a 1.38 ERA in 16 starts this season. She has posted 14 complete games with four shutouts and has struck out 137 batters in 116.1 innings of work. Opponents are hitting a measly .188 against her.

In league play, the Big Red offense has come alive, with the team boasting a .301 batting average. Six regulars are hitting .333 or better in conference play, led by Marissa Amiraian at .444. For her efforts last week, Amiraian was named Ivy League Softball Offensive Player of the Week. Freshmen Christina Villalon (.389, HR, 3 RBI0, Jenny Edwards (.370, 9 RBI) and Sam Creamer (.364) are all batting better than .350.

With eight games on the week, head coach Dick Blood can go a long way toward surpassing legendary Big Red baseball coach Ted Thoren as the winningest coach in Cornell athletics history in a single sport. With 531 contests entering the week, he needs 10 more victories to match Thoren in his 29-year career in the dugout. Polo coach David Eldredge has won 706 contests with the men's and women's teams combined.