DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Cornell softball team begins its busiest stretch of the season with nine games over the next six days beginning with today's afternoon doubleheader at Bethune-Cookman (2 p.m.). The Big Red will also play doubleheaders against Stetson on Tuesday at 4 p.m., then two games at Jacksonville on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Cornell will then head to Tampa, Fla., on Thursday for a 7 p.m. single game against South Florida. It closes its Spring Break trip in Clermont, Fla., when it meets Manhattan on Saturday at 5 p.m.

After starting the season 2-4, Cornell is 4-3 in its last seven games, including winning two of three on Sunday. The Big Red exploded for 23 runs in its three games, knocking off both Quinnipiac (12-5) and Boston College (8-6) and dropping a one-run game to defending Horizon League champ Valparaiso.

Cornell is hitting .312 as a team with five regulars hitting .360 or better. Junior Christina Villalon is one of three hitters batting .429, joining senior Erin Belles and freshman Leanne Iannucci. Villalon has added three doubles, a home run and a team-best seven RBI. Tied for the team lead in RBI is freshman Meg Parker, who is batting a robust .394 with four doubles and seven runs batted in. Linda Laeufer (.370) and Emily Weinberg (.360) are also off to torrid starts. Kristen Towne, a career .300 hitter, is bettering that mark at .333 with five doubles and six RBI, and freshman Michiko McGivney has come on over the last two weeks and has her average up to .316. McGivney has blasted home runs in three consecutive games.

The Big Red has been solid defensively around the diamond over the first three weekends outside, committing just 11 errors in the 13 games for a .970 fielding average. Junior Alyson Onyon is 5-2 with a save and a 2.92 ERA in eight starts. Onyon has five complete games, including a shutout, and is allowing opponents to hit just .247. The Big Red hurler has struck out 46 in 48.0 innings in the circle.

The Big Red is coming off its fourth straight Ivy League South Division title, sharing the crown with Penn, en route to a 25-23 season. It was the 16th consecutive year the Big Red won at least 25 games, and its 15-5 conference mark was the fourth time in six years the program has finished at .750 or better in Ivy play. Head coach Dick Blood is the all-time winningest coach in Cornell athletics history for a single sport and enters the week with 567 triumphs (573-273-2) and five conference crowns.

Cornell has a nice lead in the all-time series with Bethune-Cookman (13-7) and is perfect all-time against Manhattan (4-0). The Big Red and South Florida have split two meetings, has never faced Jacksonville and trails Stetson by a 21-4 margin.