ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team controls its own destiny to claim at least a share of its fourth straight Ivy League South Division title when it visits Princeton for a four-game set beginning on Saturday, March 28 at 12:30 p.m. The Big Red will ready for the weekend's conference set with a pair of non-league games at Division III power Ithaca College on Thursday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Bombers' Kostrinsky Field.

Cornell and Penn enter the final weekend of play tied atop the Ivy League South Division with a 11-5 records. The Quakers will play a split four-game set with Columbia starting on Friday at 2 p.m. in Philadelphia, followed by a doubleheader at 12:30 p.m. in New York City. At the end of the weekend, whomever wins more games in their respective series between Cornell and Penn will claim the South Division title. If the two teams are tied after the Big Red's games with Princeton on Sunday, then a one-game playoff will be played at Penn the weekend of May 4-6 (date to be determined). That would push the best-of-three Ivy League championship series at North Division champion Harvard to the following weekend. Princeton also has an outside shot of staying in the mix in the division, but needs a four-game sweep and some major help.

The Big Red has some history on its side. Cornell and Penn went down to the final series of the year in 2011, with the Big Red finally putting away the Quakers 1-0 in the 19th conference game of the year to end the division race. Though dropping three-of-four games last weekend at Penn, Cornell hadn't previously lost a regular season series against an Ivy foe since 2008. Of course, that was a 3-1 Princeton series win that year.

Cornell's young offense has picked up the pace after getting off to a slow start and is batting .312 with 23 HR as a team in Ivy League play to raise its season average to .270. Two regulars are hitting .300 or better, led by senior Morgan Cawley (.321, 2 HR, 12 RBI) and junior Kristen Towne (.318, 12 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI). They are backed up by a strong supporting cast, including freshman Linda Laeufer (.298, 4 HR, 18 RBI), senior Erin Keene (.293, 7 HR, 22 RBI) and sophomores Jenny Edwards (.285, 8 HR, 24 RBI) and Lauren Bucolo (.285, 6 HR, 21 RBI).

The Cornell pitching corps has kept the Big Red in games this season, allowing the offense to win games. The group of seniors Lauren Marx (5-2, 4 SVs, 3.28 ERA) and Jenna Stoller (2-10, 4.59 ERA) and sophomores Alyson Onyon (10-4, 3.47 ERA, 94 Ks) and Sammy Roth (2-0, 4.61 ERA) have done a lion's share of the pitching.

The winner of three straight South division titles, the Big Red has gone 86-29 in league play since the league went to a 20-game Ivy League slate in 2007. After going 27-22-1 a season ago and claiming a third consecutive South Division title, Blood's squad is 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 week with 562 triumphs (562-263-2) and five conference crowns.

Ithaca College brings a 20-11 overall record and an 8-0 mark in Empire 8 action to lead the league heading into Wednesday's home doubleheader with Alfred. The Bombers have won four straight entering the week and are hitting .315 as a team. Five regulars are hitting .318 or better, with Sydney Folk batting a team-best .420 with five home runs and 28 RBI. Opponents are batting just .244 against the duo of Jillian Olmstead (11-6, 2.21 ERA, 4 saves) and Sam Bender (9-5, 2.51 ERA) in the circle. NFCA Hall of Fame coach Deb Pallozzi is in her 24th season in the dugout with the Bombers and sports a 671-282-1 record during that span, including leading IC to the 2002 Division III national championship. The Big Red holds a 27-8 lead in the all-time series between the crosstown rivals and has won 10 straight contests.

The Tigers enter Tuesday's non-league game at Hofstra with a 14-27 record and are 8-8 in Ivy play. Princeton needs a sweep of Cornell to stay in the conference race, and then needs Columbia to take at least three games from Penn to garner a tie atop the division standings. A sweep of Cornell and a Lions sweep of the Quakers would give them the division crown outright. Four offensive regulars are hitting .295 or better, with Kelsey VandeBergh hitting a team-best .333. Alex Peyton (.295, 7 HR, 26 RBI) leads the team and ranks among the Ivy leaders in home runs and RBI. In the circle, Peyton (6-11, 3.31 ERA) and Liza Kuhn (6-11, 3.72 ERA) have posted nearly identical records and provide a solid 1-2 punch. Princeton leads the all-time series 25-21, though Cornell has had the better of the series recently, winning 10 of the last 13 meetings. The squads split four games a year ago.