ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell softball team knew coming into last weekend it needed to match Penn game-for-game to earn its fourth straight Ivy League South Division title. Now it will get one more shot at the Quakers for a spot in next weekend's Ivy League Championship Series. Before it heads for a one-game divisional playoff on Saturday, May 5 at 12:30 p.m., the Big Red will close out non-conference play when it meets Binghamton on Wednesday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. in a doubleheader.

After matching weekend sweeps, Cornell (24-21) and Penn finished the regular season tied atop the Ivy League South Division standings with 15-5 records. A one-game playoff will now decide who will advance to play North division champion Harvard in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship series. Cornell will be looking for its fourth straight appearance representing the South Division, winning the series and advancing to the NCAA tournament in both 2009 and 2010. The Big Red handed the Crimson one of its three conference losses, topping Harvard 10-8 in the nightcap of its March 30 doubleheader after falling in extra innings in game one.

The winner of four straight South division titles, the Big Red has gone 90-29 in league play since going to a 20-game Ivy League slate in 2007. After posting a 27-22-1 a season ago and claiming a third consecutive South Division title, Blood's squad is now 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 566 triumphs (566-264-2) and five conference crowns.

Cornell's young offense has picked up the pace after getting off to a slow start and is now batting .293 with 24 HR as a team in Ivy League play to raise its season average to .265. Three regulars are hitting .300 or better, led by junior Kristen Towne (.311, 12 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI), freshman Clare Feely (.310) and sophomore Lauren Bucolo (.301, 6 HR, 22 RBI). They are backed up by a strong supporting cast, including freshman Linda Laeufer (.286, 11 2B, 4 HR, 18 RBI), senior Erin Keene (.285, 7 HR, 25 RBI) and sophomore Jenny Edwards (.284, 9 HR, 27 RBI).

The Cornell pitching corps has kept the Big Red in games this season, allowing the offense to win games. And that was before the emergence of sophomore Alyson Onyon as the team's ace. The righthander is 13-4 with a 2.79 ERA this season. She has been even better in Ivy League play, going 9-1 with a 2.18 ERA and six complete games. Onyon was tremendous this past weekend in the four-game sweep of Princeton, going 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA while pitching 31.0 innings, more than four full seven-inning games. She allowed just 18 hits, all singles, in her three complete game victories. Seniors Lauren Marx (5-3, 5 saves, 3.36 ERA) and Jenna Stoller (2-10, 4.58 ERA), as well as sophomore Sammy Roth (3-0, 4.47 ERA), have done a lion's share of the pitching.

The Bearcats enter a midweek doubleheader with a 16-27 overall record and a 7-11 mark in the America East. Binghamton is an impressive 9-2 at its home field, but just 1-21 on the road. Jessica Phillips is batting a team-high .318 with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 21 RBI, while Mikala King has driven in 20 runs. BU is hitting .225 as a team with a .326 on-base percentage. In the circle, Demi Laney is 7-9 with a 4.59 ERA in 100 innings of work, while Kristen Emerling (4-7. 5.03 ERA), Rhoda Marsteller (3-8, 5.31 ERA) and Kate Price (2-3, 5.40 ERA) have also seen significant time pitching. Third-year head coach Michelle Burrell has a 63-69 record at Binghamton and is 190-119 in six years overall as a head coach. Cornell leads the all-time series 13-2, though the Bearcats won last year's only meeting, 2-1 in 10 innings in Fairfax, Va.

Penn spent the entire weekend a day ahead of the Big Red, putting pressure with a Friday doubleheader sweep of Columbia at home, followed by a sweep on Saturday on the road. The Quakers are 12-2 in its last 14 games and will enter the playoff on a five-game win streak with the last loss coming to Cornell, a 5-0 decision on April 21. Penn sports a 32-15 overall record and matched the Big Red with a 15-5 Ivy record. The Quakers are hitting .281 as a team with five regulars hitting .300 or better. Karina Rios (.341, 2 HR, 11 RBI), Sydney Turchin (.338, 16 RBI) and Kayla Dahlerbruch (.311, 6 HR, 27 RBI) lead the way. Alexis Borden (23-4, 1.39 ERA, 180 Ks) and Mikenzie Voves (7-7, 2.90 ERA) lead the pitching staff. She is limiting foes to a .217 batting average. Head coach Leslie King is in her ninth season directing the Penn program and has posted a 175-208-3 mark. Cornell holds a commanding 37-12 series lead, though the Quakers won three-of-four contests earlier this year in Philadelphia. The Big Red has won 15 of the 19 meetings since the beginning of the 2008 campaign.