ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the second straight weekend, the Cornell softball team will head to Fairfax, Va. for a four-game weekend when it competes in the George Mason Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11. The games will be played at the George Mason Softball Complex.
The Big Red will play Hartford and host George Mason both days for a total of four games. Cornell will meet the Hawks at 11 a.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday, while squaring off with the Patriots on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Cornell had an up-and-down first weekend of softball in splitting four games at the Patriot Classic last weekend, dropping a contest to Marsity (6-0) before taking home consecutive victories over Akron (9-8) and Rider (2-0) before falling to Mason in the finale (3-2).
The Big Red got out the bats at the top of the lineup, as Jenny Edwards (.417, HR, 2 RBI0, Kristen Towne (.333, 3 RBI) and Erin Keene (.333, 2 2B) each hit .333 or better while starting all four contests. The Big Red hit .250 as a team and the Cornell hurlers limited opponents to .225 batting, but struggles in the field (eight errors) led to extra at bats against a young Cornell pitching staff.
After going 27-22-1 a season ago and claiming a third consecutive South Division title, head coach Dick Blood's squad will be looking for its 16th consecutive season with at least 25 wins. Blood is the all-time winningest coach in Cornell athletics history for a single sport and enters the weekend with 544 triumphs (544-247-2) and five conference crowns.
George Mason returns 13 position players and three starting pitchers from last season's squad that went 19-25. The Patriots are currently 3-8 heading into the weekend thanks to the big bat of Brooke Blankenship (.417, HR, 5 RBI). GMU's pitchers have combined to allow opponents to hit .325 and have posted a 4.98 ERA with 33 walks and 35 strikeouts in 70.1 innings of work thus far. The Colonials bring a two-game win streak into the set, including the comeback 3-2 win over the Big Red.
Hartford is off to an 0-3 start after dropping a doubleheader to Central Connecticut (5-4, 13-7) and a single, 10-inning contest at Rhode Island (6-5). Peyton Fisher (.583, HR, 2 RBI) and Jordan Haines (.400, HR, 4 RBI) are off to hot starts at the plate, while Kaitlyn Meade (0-1, 12.00 ERA) and Ana Alberti (0-2, 6.46 ERA) had taken all three decisions in the circle for the Hawks. Hartford was 10-34 (4-14 America East) a year ago and six starters and 11 letter winners return for second-year head coach Diana Consolmagno.
