ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will kick off its Ivy League season when Yale and Brown visit Niemand*Robison Field this weekend. The Big Red, winners of four of their last six contests, will host the Bulldogs on Friday, March 31 at 2 p.m., then the Bears on Saturday, April 1 at 12:30 p.m.
 
The Big Red has turned things around after a 1-4 start thanks in large part due to its pitching. Cornell sports a solid 3.76 team ERA since the season's opening weekend. Junior Maddie Orcutt has been exceptionally strong, going 1-1 with a pair of complete games and a 2.19 ERA in 16 innings of work, while freshman Lisa Nelson is 2-0 with a 3.96 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. Freshmen Katie Lew (1-1, 8.65 ERA in 5.2 innings) and Cora Geunes (0-0, 1 save, 0.00 ERA in 1.2 innings) also have strong results over the last three weeks.
 
The Big Red has been excellent in the field behind its young pitching staff, committing just 13 errors in 11 games and fielding at a .958 clip. It was even better last weekend, making just two errors during its 3-1 run in Maryland (.981).
 
Cornell is hitting a solid .284 as a team with four regulars above .300. Senior Michiko McGivney, who has missed the last five games due to injury, was off to a torrid start at .625 with a pair of home runs, with Madeline Avery (.333, two doubles, home run, three RBI), Megan Murray (.303, home run, eight RBI) and Zoe Hernandez (.300, home run, four RBI) also hitting the ball well. Freshman Bridgette Rooney is batting .286 and paces the squad in RBI (nine), while senior Jessica Bigbie, a career .300 hitter, has three doubles, six runs scored and six RBI and is batting .556 over her last three contests.
 
The home and Ivy opener against a pair of North Division foes who swept the Big Red a year ago. The Big Red leads the Yale series 29-17, but is just 3-5 over the last four seasons. Prior to that, Cornell had won 17 consecutive games between the teams. The Bears took an 8-0 win in game one and an 8-4 victory in game two, while Yale answered with a 9-2 triumph in the opener and a 3-1 win in the nightcap. Cornell holds a commanding 31-18 edge over the Bears in the all-time series dating back to 1994, though Brown has won three straight, its longest win streak since capturing the first six all-time meetings.
 
The Bulldogs enter Friday's doubleheader with a 5-17 overall record, but like Cornell enters Ivy play hot. Yale is 3-1 in its last four after a doubleheader sweep of Central Connecticut State in its home opener and a split at Rider. Yale is hitting .223 as a team, with Francesca Casalino (.355, three doubles, five RBI), Camille Weisenbach (.323, four doubles, home run, six RBI) and Shelby Kennedy (.308, five RBI) providing a lion's share of the offense. Casalino (1-5, 4.65 ERA), Terra Jerpbak (1-5, 4.20 ERA) and Lindsay Efflandt (2-6, 5.29 ERA) have split the majority of innings in the circle with a team .944 fielding percentage backing them. Yale finished third in the North Division with a 9-11 record and was 18-31-1 overall under fifth-year head coach Jen Goodwin.
 
Brown is off to a 6-13 start, including 5-1 in its last six, entering Wednesday's home doubleheader against Hartford. The Bears are hitting .258 as a team with Grayson Metzger (.333, 10 RBI) leading the way. Both Annie McGregor (.315, five doubles, home run) and Cat Seitz (.306, four RBI) are off to hot starts, while Kaitlin Okimoto ranks among the league leaders with her 12 RBI. The circle is ably manned by Katie Orona (3-5, 3.53 ERA) and Meghan Wimmer (2-4, 3.66 ERA). Fifth-year head coach Katie Flynn is looking to improve the team's record for the fourth straight season after going 18-23 a year ago, the program's most wins since 2010.