ITHACA, N.Y. – Fresh off an Ivy League weekend sweep that moved Cornell to the top of the South Division standings, the Big Red will return home for a non-league doubleheader against Colgate before a four-game set at defending division champ Penn.

Cornell will play Central New York rival Colgate on Tuesday, April 8 at 3:30 p.m. at Niemand*Robison Field before heading back on the road for Ivy League play at Penn beginning on Saturday, April 12 at 12:30 p.m. at Penn Park.

The Big Red enters the week with a 12-15 record and is 5-2 in its last seven games and is on its first four-game win streak since capturing five straight late in the 2012 campaign.  Cornell is coming off a successful spring break, going 5-3 and winning its final four contests to surge into first place in the Ivy League's South Division. With six games on tap this week, the Big Red will try to keep that momentum going after getting back within three games of .500 overall (12-15) and improving to 4-2 in conference play.

The Big Red is looking to break out its offense, which is hitting.253 through its first 27 contests. Leading the way is senior All-Ivy League selection Christina Villalon (.328). She is one of three regulars hitting better than .300 entering the week. Leanne Iannucci (.328, five doubles, 10 RBI) and Michiko McGivney are also over .300. McGivney has exploded out of the gates in the last 10 games after missing the first third of the year with an injury. She is hitting .387 with a team-best .710 slugging percentage and a .486 on-base percentage. McGivney has hit a pair of home runs to rank second on the team. Both freshman Jessica Bigbie (.299, five doubles, team-high 15 RBI) and sophomore Meg Parker (.295, three home runs, 12 RBI) have also had strong efforts at the plate.

Cornell's pitching has been solid. Senior All-Ivy hurler Alyson Onyon is 5-5 with 3.31 ERA and is allowing opponents to hit just .265. Onyon enters the week with 328 strikeouts and needs just five more to move into the top five all-time at Cornell. She is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts in her last two Ivy outings. Both Meg Parker (5-6, 3.86 ERA) and Sammy Roth (2-4, 4.58 ERA) have also seen significant time in the circle. Parker has emerged as a frontline starter and is 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA in her last two starts, striking out 17 while allowing just nine hits in her last 13 innings. Together, the three hurlers have combined for 130 strikeouts and 83 walks in 177 innings of work.

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 600-312-2 career record, including a 196-93 mark in Ivy play and recorded his 600th victory last weekend. With every win he builds on his record of all-time winningest coach in a single sport at Cornell.

Colgate enters the week with a 5-18 overall record and a seven-game losing skid in tow. The Raiders are batting just .208 as a team while allowing opponents to hit .337. Marisa Dowling leads the way at .329 while pacing the team, while Katie Bushee sits atop the squad's leaders in hits (24), runs scored (12), doubles (four) and triples (two). Brigit Ieuter is 3-9 with a 4.03 ERA in 12 starts and leads the team in strikeouts (22), complete games (five) and innings pitched (59.0). Third-year head coach Melissa Finley returned six starters from last season's 16-32 squad that was 9-11 in the Patriot League. The Big Red leads the all-time series 15-8.

The Quakers are 7-14 on the season (2-3 Ivy) entering a midweek makeup conference doubleheader against Brown. Either Cornell or Penn has won five consecutive Ivy League South Division titles, and the Quakers captured the program's first-ever Ivy title a year ago. The Penn pitching staff has been among the league's best, with Alexis Borden (3-9, 2.31 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 66.2 innings) and Alexis Sargent (4-3, 1.44 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 39.0 innings) leading the way for a staff that has posted a 3.16 ERA. Head coach Leslie King, in her 11th season with the Quakers, has guided Penn to consecutive league division titles and has coached three conference players of the year. The Big Red leads the all-time series 38-16, though the Quakers have won six of the last eight over the last two seasons.