Live Stats I 2011 Cornell Statistics I 2011 Roster I 2011 Schedule & Results
THE STORY LINE: The Cornell softball team will attempt to clinch its third straight Ivy League South Division title this week when it meets Penn on Thursday, May 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Drexel Field in Philadelphia, Pa. The Big Red needs to split or sweep the doubleheader to advance to this weekend's Ivy League championship best-of-three series at Harvard, the North Division champion. If Penn, which has lost 13 of its last 14 against the Big Red, can sweep the doubleheader, a one-game playoff will be held on Friday at 9 a.m. at Drexel, with the winner of that game advancing to the championship series. In addition, with one victory, Big Red coach Dick Blood will become the school's all-time leader in victories in a single sport. He enters the week tied with legendary former baseball coach Ted Thoren at 541 victories.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED: The Big Red is off to a 26-20-1 start with a revamped lineup, as the two-time defending Ivy League champion leads the South Division with an 11-7 record, two games ahead of second-place Penn. Senior Marissa Amiraian is batting .417 with 42 runs while spearheading the Big Red at the top of the lineup. Sophomore Kristen Towne is hitting .312 with a team-high six home runs and 27 RBI, second on the team. Sophomore Erin Belles is hitting .318 with six home runs and 17 RBI, while freshman Christina Villalon (.306, 4 HR, 18 RBI) is also hitting better than .300. Rookie second baseman Jenny Edwards is batting .246 with five home runs and a team-high 28 RBI. In the circle, two-time Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth Dalrymple is 18-8 with a 1.96 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 179.0 innings of work. Head coach Dick Blood has won 541 career games at Cornell and five Ivy League titles.
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: Penn enters the week with an 18-20-1 overall record and a 9-9 mark in the Ivy League South Division, two games behind the Big Red. Alisha Prystowsky leads four players hitting better than .300 at the plate with her .378 average. She also paces the team in triples (4), home runs (5) and RBI (31). Brooke Coloma is hitting .313 with four home runs and 25 RBI, while Elysse Gorney is also batting .313 with 25 runs scored and seven stolen bases. As a team, the Quakers are batting .287, but the Quaker pitching staff is allowing opponents to bat .336. In the circle, Mikenzie Voves (10-10, 4.36 ERA) and Cailyn Hennessey (5-3, 4.51 ERA) lead the way. The Quakers won three-of-four games against Columbia this past weekend to keep the Quakers in the division race. Penn has rallied after opening up league play with a 2-6 record under eighth-year head coach Leslie King. King's team has finished second to the Big Red in the division in each of the last two years.
THE SERIES: Cornell leads the all-time series 35-9, including winning 13 of the last 14 meetings and 27 of the last 31 contests between them. The Big Red swept a doubleheader earlier this season at Ithaca College, knocking off the Quakers 10-2 in five innings in game one and 8-6 in the nightcap. The two teams combined for 12 home runs in the two games. The Big Red is 15-1 all-time against the Quakers in Ithaca, including winning the last 15 contests.
THE SCENARIO: Both teams control their own destiny to claim the Ivy League South Division title. The Big Red enters the midweek series with a two-game lead over the Quakers, and a doubleheader split or sweep by Cornell would give them a third straight division crown. Penn has a much tougher road to the title. The Quakers would need to sweep the doubleheader to tie Cornell atop the division, then would need to win an additional one-game playoff that will also be held in Ithaca. The winner of the South Division would then travel to Harvard for a best-of-three series this weekend with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If Cornell wins game one on Thursday, the two teams will not play a second contest.
LAST TIME OUT: It was a tale of two games, and the Big Red offense that was so dominant in game one was just as quiet in game two as the Big Red split a doubleheader on Sunday, May 1 at Niemand*Robison Field. Cornell honored its three seniors and played inspired softball in a 14-1 win in the opener in five innings, then dropped a 12-2 decision in the nightcap.
HOME SWEET HOME: Cornell is 56-12 at home over the last four seasons, including an impressive 35-7 mark in league action at Niemand•Robison Field (includes a 2-0 mark at Ithaca College). The Big Red is 14-3 at home in its last 17 games, outscoring opponents 103-44 over that span.
IVY STANDARD: Since moving to a 20-game Ivy League slate in 2007, the Big Red has posted a 74-24 record in league play overall and a 35-7 record at home.
30 WINS A STAPLE: Cornell won 37 games a season ago, the fifth straight year and the 13th time in the last 14 years it has hit the 30-win plateau. The lone year it didn't reach that mark during that stretch was in 2005 when it went 29-17-1. To put that in perspective, no other team in the conference has an active streak of 30-win seasons among Ivy teams, and while Cornell has done it 13 times in the last 14 years, the other seven Ancient Eight schools have reached that mark just 12 times combined in the same span.
BIG WINNER: Head coach Dick Blood is in a chase to become the all-time winningest coach in Cornell athletics history for a single sport. He enters the weekend with 541 victories and needs one to surpass legendary former baseball coach Ted Thoren (1962-890) at 541 during his 29-year career. He has posted a 541-243-2 mark at Cornell.
ON A TWO-YEAR TEAR: Senior outfielder Marissa Amiraian has picked right up where she left off a season ago, batting .417 with a team-high 65 hits, 42 runs scored and seven triples while starting all 47 games. She is also perfect in 66 fielding chances and has posted a .492 on-base percentage. A year ago, Amiraian batted .400 and had one of the most memorable hits in school history when she hit a two-run homer to help Cornell to a 3-2 victory over Harvard in game three of the Ivy League championship season. Her .350 career batting average now ranks No. 7 all-time at Cornell, while her nine triples ranks second.
MOUND GAMES: Senior Elizabeth Dalrymple, the two-time reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, has posted a 58-19 record over her last three seasons. Dalrymple ranks fifth all-time at Cornell with 62 wins and holds the school's career strikeout mark (641). Dalrymple is also second in lowest opponent batting average (.223), fourth in lowest ERA (1.95), fifth in saves (4) and complete games (65) and third in shutouts (16).
HIT TOWNE: Sophomore Kristen Towne, a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection as a utility player as a freshman in 2010, is having another strong season in her second year. She is batting .312 with eight doubles, a triple and six home runs with 27 RBI in 46 contests. She is slugging .514 with a .381 on-base percentage and has committed just one error in 277 fielding chances. Towne is coming off a rookie season in which she batted .362 with 10 doubles, eight home runs and 31 RBI. She batted .455 with a .782 slugging percentage in Ivy League play.
ROOKIES ON DISPLAY: Several freshmen have played key roles in the 2011 lineup. At second base, Jenny Edwards is hitting .248 with five home runs and 28 RBI, while outfielder Christina Villalon is hitting .306 with four home runs and 18 RBI. Outfielder Sam Creamer (.289) and infielder Lauren Bucolo (.260, 3 HR, 17 RBI) have also played key roles. Other rookies earning significant time are infielder Sarah McCormack and outfielder J.J. Briggs, who have combined to play in 62 games.
SMART PLAY: Senior Ali Tomlinson, despite battling through numerous injuries in her last two seasons, is back on track in the pitching circle. Tomlinson is 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA and a pair of complete games so far in 2011. She ranks second on the team to Elizabeth Dalrymple in strikeouts (52), innings pitched (83.0), ERA and games started (8) and appeared in (21). Tomlinson was named to the Capital One Academic All-District team in 2010 after recording a 3.45 grade point average in communication.
NEXT UP: The winner of the South Division will head to this weekend's Ivy League championship series in Cambridge, Mass., against North Division champion Harvard.
