Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score (Cornell 9, Rider 1)
Game 2 Box Score (George Mason 6, Cornell 1)

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Cornell softball team split a season-opening doubleheader on day one of the George Mason-Patriot Classic, dropping Rider 9-1 in the opener before falling  to the host Patriots 6-1 in game two.

Senior Kristen Towne had four hits, including two doubles and a pair of runs scored, while Lauren Bucolo was 4-for-9. Christina Villalon drove in four runs in the two contests, including the team's lone run in game two.

In the opener, Cornell scored at least two runs in four different innings, including a two-run homer by Villalon in the third. The Big Red pounded out 14 hits, including a 3-for-5 morning by Bucolo in the leadoff slot. She added a stolen base. Kristen Towne, Meg Parker and Linda Laeufer each had a pairs of hit, with Parker collecting the first two of her collegiate career. Both Towne and Parker also drew walks. Emily Weinberg also had her first collegiate hit in the victory.

In its first game of the year, Cornell was flawless in the field behind Alyson Onyon, who scattered five hits in six innings of work in the circle. Sammy Roth pitched a perfect seventh to close out the win. 

The Big Red stole five bases in its first game after posting just 14 in 48 games a season ago.

After a scoreless first, Laeufer opened the second with a double. After Sophie Giaquinto walked, the duo completed a double steal. Clare Feely's infield single got Cornell on the board, and two batters later Bucolo singled to center to make it 2-0. That would be all the offense the Big Red would need.

It would get more though. Parker opened the third with a single, and after she stole second, Villalon homered to left-center to make it 4-0. The lead extended to 7-0 in the fourth when Parker doubled to center to score Jenny Edwards, followed by consecutive errors by the Broncos to score two more. Rider got on the board in the bottom of the inning thanks to a walk, a passed ball, a groundout and a strikeout in the dirt that allowed a runner home.

Cornell finished Rider off in the seventh with three final runs on the strength of a two-out, two-run single by Sam Creamer.

Game two saw George Mason score single runs in the first two innings before Cornell rallied to within 2-1 in the top of the third on a Villalon RBI single.  That was as close as the Big Red would get.

The Patriots answered with four runs of their own, all coming in the fourth inning with two outs. After George Mason loaded the bases with no one out, Sammy Roth induced a pair of innocent pop-outs nearly close out the inning unscathed. Casey Price made sure that wouldn't be the script, however, and her double down the rightfield line cleared the bases. Tori Rodriguez doubled in Price for an insurance run to make it 6-1. Cornell wouldn't seriously threaten, though the Big Red did have baserunners in each of the final three innings.

Towne was 2-for-3 in the nightcap with Villalon driving in the lone run. Parker made her first start in the circle, allowing two unearned runs in three innings. She walked five and struck out one.

Cornell will be back in action on Sunday, March 3 when it meets Rutgers at 9 a.m. and Rider at 1:30 p.m. at George Mason's Softball Complex.