Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
Photo Gallery (photos by Patrick Shanahan)

ITHACA, N.Y. – A pair of big innings, one in each game, helped the Cornell softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Columbia on Saturday afternoon at Niemand*Robison Field. The Big Red extended its lead in the Ivy League South Division to three games with a 9-7 win in game one, following by a 9-1 victory in five innings in game two. Cornell improved to 18-15 (9-1 Ivy), while the Lions slipped to 9-24 (3-7 Ivy).

Cornell pounded out 22 hits in the doubleheader, including seven extra-base hits and three home runs. Two of the long balls came from Jenny Edwards, who moved into the Ivy League lead with seven homers this year. She hit one in each contest and was 4-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored. Freshman Linda Laeufer added her fourth home run of the season in the nightcap, part of a three-hit day for the rookie.

Kristen Towne had two hits in the opener and Morgan Cawley had two in game two. Alyson Onyon hurled a complete game and scattered five hits in game two, allowing just an unearned run in the win. Cornell improved its win streak in league play to nine games and moved its lead in the South Division to three games with its sweep of the Lions and a doubleheader split between Penn and Princeton, who are now both 6-4.

In game one, Columbia scored two in the first and another in the third to run out to a 3-1 lead before the Big Red answered back in a big way in the third to take control. Cornell scored seven times in the bottom of the third on seven hits, all singles, in true station-to-station fashion. In all, Cornell got hits from seven different batters in the inning and added an insurance run in the sixth to cap the victory when Edwards hit her sixth home run of the year, tying her with teammates Lauren Bucolo and Erin Keene for the league lead.

Towne and Edwards each went 2-for-3 as Cornell belted out 10 hits in the win. Lauren Marx picked up her league-leading fourth save by allowing just one earned run in the final 2.0 innings of work, making a winner out of Sammy Roth, who improved to 2-0 with 2.0 innings of work out of the bullpen.

Morgan Cook and Tristin Moone each had two hits for the Lions in the opener, with Moone hitting her third big fly of the year. Christie Taylor also hit a home run in the loss.

The Big Red cashed in with a five run first inning, all coming with two outs. Towne slammed a two-run double, her second two-bagger of the day, to make it 3-0. That chased starter Kalli Schultea, who closed out game one by going the final 3.1 innings. An RBI double by Cawley and a run-scoring single by Sam Creamer added on to an RBI hit by Erin Keene to end the frame 5-0.

Edwards opened the second with a leadoff homer to straightaway center to make it 6-0, and after the Lions chipped away with a run in the third, the home team answered back with three more. The big blow was Laeufer's two-run homer with two outs. Bucolo's RBI single put the Big Red in position to claim the mercy run win, and after allowing consecutive singles to open the fourth, Onyon shut down the Lions. The sophomore retired the final six batters to close out her eighth victory of the year.

Cornell will wrap up its four-game series with the Lions tomorrow with a 12:30 p.m. doubleheader. The Big Red will honor its six seniors (Morgan Cawley, Erica Gaeta, Erin Keene, Lauren Marx, Jenna Stoller and Katie Watts) in a pregame ceremony.