ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell softball team will head to Virginia for the second of three straight weekends hoping to get into a rhythm when it competes in the George Mason Invitational beginning on Saturday, March 9. Cornell will play the host Patriots, as well as two games against Longwood and a single contest vs. Monmouth to open the tourney.

The Big Red just returned from Fairfax where it went 2-2 at the George Mason-Patriot Classic. Cornell opened the season on the right track with a 9-1 victory over Rider before dropping consecutive games against George Mason (6-1) and Rutgers (9-1), before wrapping up the weekend with a 6-5 triumph over Rider. The 2-2 start mirrored last season's visits to George Mason, when Cornell split all six days of action at the three tournaments to open the year 6-6.

Cornell hit .333 during its opening weekend with four regulars hitting .357 or better. Sophomore Linda Laeufer led the way at .545 with a double, a home run and three RBI to lead the offense, while Christina Villalon batted .455 with a pair of doubles, a home run and a team-best four RBI. Freshman Meg Parker, who also started two games in the circle, hit .273 with a team-high four runs scored. The Big Red was solid in the field for an opening weekend outside, committing just four errors in the four games for a .966 fielding average. Junior Alyson Onyon posted a perfect 2-0 record with a 2.69 ERA in two starts for a pitching staff that was stung with control issues during the opening weekend. Cornell walks 24 batters in 27.0 innings, but allowed foes to hit just .268 collectively.

The Big Red has a longstanding series with George Mason, splitting 24 meetings right down the middle (12-12). Cornell trails the all-time series against both Longwood (2-1) and Monmouth (0-1), though it could easily tie or take the lead in either or both with wins this weekend.

Monmouth will be the Big Red's first opponent of the tourney and bring a 4-2 record into the weekend, losing its last two games after opening the season with four straight wins. The Hawks have won with pitching, posting a pair of shutouts and limiting opponents to .182 hitting through six games. Jordan Barrett (2-0, 2.20 ERA) has a pair of wins, while Lauren Sulick is 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work. At the plate, Kayla Weiser (.438, 4 RBI) and Shannon Fitzgerald (.421, 3 RBI) are both hitting over .400 with on-base percentages over .540. Monmouth has also taken advantage of its opponents' mistakes, capitalizing on 16 errors for 19 unearned runs in the six games. Fourth-year head coach Louie Berndt returns eight starters and 13 letter winners from last season's 24-20 squad that went 12-8 in Northeast Conference play to finish fourth.

Longwood enters the week with an impressive 9-4 record that includes consecutive wins over Syracuse (10-0) and Penn State (9-8) with a midweek three-game set in Big South play against Winthrop. The Lancers have an impressive .332 team average while limiting foes to a .185 batting average. Megan Baltzell is off to a blazing start, hitting .531 with four doubles, six home runs and 14 RBI as one of five regulars hitting .333 or better. Longwood has hit 14 homers and has collected 46 extra-base hits to its opponents' two homers and 14 extra-base hits.  Brooke Short is 6-1 in the circle with a 0.86 ERA with 25 strikeouts. Head coach Kathy Riley, in her 16th season running Longwood's program, is approaching 500 career victories in the program's dugout. The Lancers are coming off a 29-26 campaign.

The Patriots went 3-1 last weekend to even its record at 5-5. George Mason upped its batting average 72 points to .241, but has just eight extra-base hits in 10 games. The Patriots have gotten excellent pitching from Christina Gabriele (2-2, 1.68 ERA in 25.0 IP) and Casey Herring (2-2, 2.41 ERA in 20.1 IP). Three regulars are hitting better than .300, including Julia Czarnecki at .400 with six runs scored. Angela Maioran (.320) and Megan Blank (.300, 7 RBI) are also off to strong starts. Sixth-year head coach Joe Verbancic returns six letter winners from last season's 13-41 squad that went 7-14 in the Colonial.