ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team embarks on an eight-game spring break road swing a day earlier than expected, kicking things off this afternoon at Marist at 2 p.m. in Poughkeepsie. The Big Red will head to Albany for a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader before opening its Ivy League road schedule with twin bills against Dartmouth on Friday at Dartmouth and Saturday at Harvard.

At 6-9, Cornell has righted itself after a 1-4 start and now looks to fight up the Ivy standings. The Big Red went 1-3 in its opening weekend, losing two of those contests by a single run, splitting with Brown on Sunday after a Saturday sweep at the hands of Yale. Both Princeton and Columbia opened the year with perfect 4-0 records, putting Cornell three games back in the division.

Sarah Murray leads four regulars hitting better than .317, as the freshman stands at ,346 with a pair of doubles. Olivia Lam (.342, four doubles, home run, six RBI), Madeline Avery (.341, four doubles, two home runs) and Tori Togashi (.317) are off to hot starts. Not far behind is junior Megan Murray (.280, nine RBI), while freshman Bridgette Rooney (.235, three home runs, 11 RBI) paces the team in home runs and RBI. Senior Jessica Bigbie has added 10 RBI.

Despite getting a late start outside, Cornell ranks among the Ivy League's fielding leaders with a .960 percentage, committing 18 errors in its 15 games. That has helped a young pitching staff settle in, as the team's four hurlers sport a 5-5 record with a respectable 3.59 ERA since the opening weekend. Maddie Orcutt is 2-2 with a 3.55 ERA, Katie Lew is 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA and Lisa Nelson is 2-1 with a 4.00 ERA over that span, while rookie Cora Geunes has allowed just a single hit over three innings of relief work.

The week starts with a doubleheader against a Marist team that brings 16-11 record into play on Monday, a day earlier than expected after impending rain was in the Tuesday forecast.

Marist is getting outstanding pitching, with Jessica Van Alphen posting a 6-2 record with a 1.53 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 45.2 innings of work. Meg Beiermeister (6-2, 2.51 ERA), Kallen Leesburg (2-4, 2.29 ERA) and Jayne Oberdorf (2-2, 2.81 ERA) have also been sensational in the circle. At the plate, both Rebecca Freeman and Janna Korak have nine home runs, with Freeman driving in 25 in her 27 games. Korak's .424 on-base percentage and .576 slugging percentage stand atop the team charts as well. The Red Foxes won both the MAC regular season and tournament titles last spring under ninth-year head coach Joe Ausanio. The former Major League Baseball pitcher has led the program to three 30-win seasons, including a school-record 45-13 mark a season ago.