ITHACA, N.Y. – After consecutive weekends in Fairfax, Va. and five of its first nine games against George Mason, the Cornell softball team will see some new faces in the other dugout when it heads to Newark, Del., to compete in the Delaware Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16. The Big Red will play single games against the host school, as well as Villanova, Robert Morris and St. John's.

The Big Red will open the two-day event at Delaware on Saturday at 11:15 a.m., followed by a contest against Villanova at 130 p.m. Cornell closes the tournament with games against Robert Morris on Sunday at 9 a.m. and St. John's at 1:30 p.m. at UD Softball Stadium.

At 3-6, Cornell will be looking to turn around an uneven start. The Big Red is hitting .278 as a team with 36 runs scored in its nine games with five regulars hitting .333 or better led by freshman Jessica Bigbie (.417, three doubles, nine RBI) and senior Christina Villalon (.400). Senior Jenny Edwards has a team-leading two home runs and has matched Bigbie with her seven RBI, while sophomore Meg Parker paces the squad in runs scored (nine) while adding three doubles and a home run. Edwards and Parker are the only two players to start all nine games this season.

Cornell is also looking to shore itself in the circle and in the field. The Big Red, with only two weekends outside and trailing nearly every team in the country in games played, has committed 12 errors in its nine games and sports a .954 fielding percentage. Big Red pitchers have posted a 6.46 ERA in 56.1 innings of work with senior Alyson Onyon leading the way. She has a hard luck 0-2 record with a 4.94 ERA and has 12 strikeouts in 17 innings of work, while Parker is 2-2 with three of the team's six complete games.

In his 19th year at the helm of the Cornell softball program, head coach Dick Blood has set an impressive standard of excellence. The Big Red has won five Ivy League titles (1999, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010) and has captured four of the last five Ivy League South Division crowns. Cornell has finished first or second in the Ivy League in 13 of the last 16 seasons. Blood has accumulated an impressive 591-303-2 career record, including a 192-91 mark in Ivy play.

Delaware opens the week with a 6-10 record, including winning four of their last five games after starting the season 2-9 in its first 11 games. The Blue Hens are hitting .251 as a team with three regulars hitting better than .300. Leading the way is junior Jessica Grisler (.360, two home runs, seven RBI), while freshmen Danielle Wissinger (.333) and Carolyn Szymanski (.300, two home runs, eight RBI) have also had hot starts. Delaware has committed 27 errors in their 16 games and opponents have taken advantage by scoring 19 unearned runs in 101 innings. The Delaware pitching staff, led by Szymanski, has posted a 4.50 ERA with 76 strikeouts. Szymanski is 3-6 with three complete games and the team's lone shutout while pacing the team in innings pitched. Delaware went 35-22 a season ago, finishing fourth in the Colonial at 12-9. Fourth-year head coach Jaime Wohlbach has posted a 77-107-1 record while leading the Blue Hens. The Big Red leads the all-time series between the teams 4-2, including an 8-2 victory over the Blue Hens in their last meeting back in 2008.

The Wildcats are 6-10 and have trended the opposite way of Delaware, going 1-8 in its last nine games. Villanova is hitting just .209 as a team, but its pitching staff has kept the team in games all season. Leading the way in the circle has been sophomore Kate Poppe with a 4-6 record and a 1.75 ERA. She has allowed opponents to hit a paltry .160 with 85 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work. Leading the offense is freshman Chase Snell at .286 with four RBI. She paces the team in hits (14) and stolen bases (three). The Wildcats went 21-31 a year ago with a 3-19 record in the Big East under 30th year head coach Maria DiBernadi, who has won an incredible 750 games in her career. The two teams split two meetings in 2004, the only previous meetings. The Big Red won the last match up of that series 10-1.

Robert Morris is off to a 12-6 start in large part due to its pitching, which has posted a 1.75 ERA and has held opponents to a .187 batting average. Leading the way is junior Nicole Sleith with a 7-2 record and a 0.77 ERA in 63.1 innings of work. She has completed all nine of her starts with four shutouts and has struck out 68 batters while limiting opponents to a .148 batting average.  The Colonials have also been outstanding in the field with a .979 fielding percentage and just 11 errors in 18 games. Four regulars are hitting better than .300, with junior Tess Apke pacing the squad (.327, four home runs, 12 RBI). Head coach Craig Coleman is in his 25th season and enters the weekend with 594 career wins. Coleman's team went 30-17-1 a year ago and won the Northeast Conference with a 16-4 record. The Big Red won the first-ever meeting between the teams last season with a 3-2 triumph.

The Red Storm is 8-12 on the season and 4-4 in its last eight games entering the weekend. St. John's is hitting .255 as a team through its first 20 games, with three hitters all at .345 or better. Junior Erin Burner (.361, five home runs, 13 RBI) and senior Jackie Reed (.352, four home runs, 10 RBI) are both slugging better than .600 with better than 1.000 OPS. The ace in the circle has been sophomore Tori Free (6-6, 3.54 ERA, 58 strikeouts in 55.1 innings of work), while senior Ashley Beza (2-3, 4.38 ERA, 18 strikeouts in 30.1 innings) has also seen significant action. St. John's has posted a .957 fielding percentage with 25 errors on the season. Eighth year head coach Amy Kvilhaug has a 275-356 record in 12 seasons as a collegiate coach and returns eight starters from last season's 17-35-1 squad. This will be the first-ever meeting between the teams.