ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will travel to its home away from home to compete in the George Mason Cherry Blossom Classic this weekend in Fairfax, Va. The Big Red will play two games apiece against Akron and the host Patriots beginning on Saturday, March 11 at 11 a.m.

The Big Red will open with Akron and then faces George Mason later that afternoon at 3:45 p.m. Cornell and Akron face square off again on Sunday, March 12 at 10 a.m. before closing the two-day event at 12:30 p.m. against the host school.

Cornell is used to making the trip down to Fairfax, having headed south to play in a tournament on the George Mason campus in each of the last 12 seasons (2015 saw weather cancelations), playing 69 games over that span. Over that same time, the Big Red has played 158 games at home.

The Big Red opened its season this past weekend at the Stetson Hatter Invitational, going 1-4. Cornell hit .290 as a team, but surrendered 62 total runs in the five games. Senior Michiko McGivney and freshman Sarah Murray were named to the all-tournament team, with McGivney returning after year away from softball to hit .667 with a pair of doubles, two home runs and a 1.200 slugging percentage. Murray hit .444 with three RBI. Rookie Bridgette Rooney (.333, home run, four RBI) also earned her first collegiate hit during the weekend. Freshman Lisa Nelson threw the majority of innings, going 1-1 with a 7.88 ERA, including picking up her first career win in a 9-2 victory over Bethune-Cookman.

After playing a schedule in the first weekend outside that was made up exclusively of teams that had at least 12 games under their belts, the Big Red has now had a weekend at full game speed. With a young roster that features just two seniors and 10 freshmen and sophomores, Cornell is looking for improvement up and down the lineup in its second weekend out as it continues to prep for league play beginning at the end of March.

AKRON (8-10)
Akron enters the weekend with an 8-10 overall record and is 1-4 in its last five contests, the lone win a 4-0 victory over Cornell's Ivy rival Dartmouth at Kennesaw State's Bobbie Bailey Tournament last weekend. Ashley Sims leads an offense hitting .288 as a team with a .389 average, while Taylor Kirian (.364, eight doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI) and Savannah Fruin (.347, three home runs, 19 RBI) have provided the big production, driving in 33 of the team's 56 runs. Lexie Handley is 7-5 with a 4.04 ERA in 14 appearances, including five complete games and three shutouts. She has 55 strikeouts in 60.2 innings of work. Julie Jones, in her 11th season as head coach, led the Zips to 30 wins a season ago, its best record since 2009. Her teams have now made three consecutive appearances in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Zips have one common opponent with the Big Red, with Akron dropping a pair of contests at Stetson and Cornell losing one matchup with the Hatters in DeLand, Fla. The Big Red leads the all-time series 3-1.

GEORGE MASON (1-10)
The Patriots bring a 1-10 record and a five-game losing streak into a Tuesday evening game against N.C. State. George Mason is hitting just .214 as a team, though both Sydnee Wells (.370) and Erin Calpin (.357) both have healthy averages. Marina Vitalich has been outstanding in the circle, posting a 1.25 ERA with 29 strikeouts in just 33.2 innings of work, but has had a hard-luck 1-3 start. Both Madison Larsen (0-3, 5.11 ERA) and Bekah Ansbro (0-4, 5.25 ERA) have also had significant innings of work early in the season. Longtime head coach Joe Verbanic returns 11 players, including 2016 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selections Vitalich and Samantha Zaccari. George Mason leads the all-time series 16-15.