ITHACA, N.Y. -- Spring officially begins when the Cornell softball team takes the diamond for the 2018 season opener this weekend during a five-game Florida trip for the Stetson Hatter Classic. Cornell will open on Friday with a doubleheader against Bethune-Cookman (10 a.m.) and Drexel (12:15 p.m.), then scheduled Saturday contests against the Wildcats (12:15 p.m.) and host Stetson (5 p.m.) before closing on Sunday morning with a 12 p.m. first pitch against Tennessee State.

The Big Red is coming off a 13-28-1 season that saw them go 6-14 in Ivy League play in 2017. A pair of All-Ivy Leaguers return, with second-teamers Megan Murray and Olivia Lam among four players that hit .300 or better a season ago. Sophomore Bridgette Rooney joins them after batting .272 with a league-best 10 home runs. Cornell also returns all four pitchers and 100 percent of the innings worked from a season ago.

Under longtime assistant coach and third-year head coach Julie Farlow '97, the Big Red made a leap a year ago, doubling its Ivy League win total and increasing its overall win total by four games. The team ranked third in the conference in batting average and fielding percentage (jumping from .945 to .968), while lowering its team ERA an impressive run and a half per outing. Her first recruiting class yielded Ivy League home run champ Rooney at first base and starting shortstop Sarah Murray, as well as infielder Erin Rockstroh. Three first-year hurlers combined to throw 70 percent of the team's innings, including wins and strikeouts leader Lisa Nelson.

Each of Cornell's opponents will have played at least six games prior to the Big Red's opener on Friday.

Bethune-Cookman has already played 15 games on the season and sports a 5-10 mark and a five-game losing streak entering the week. Led by Ryan Jackson's .333 batting average and team-best four home runs and 10 RBI, Bethune-Cookman is hitting .243 as a squad. B-C's speed (34-of-40 stolen bases) sparks the offense, with Mariah Davis (10-of-12) and Jackson (9-of-10) leading the way. The majority of innings in the circle have come from the trio of Alexis Bermudez (1-2, 2.07 ERA), Victoria Guzman (2-4, 4.53 ERA) and Destiny Enriquez (1-4, 5.25 ERA). Head coach Laura Watten has spent 10 seasons in the dugout for the Wildcats and nine years at Maryland and sports a career 629-474 record. The Big Red has a 16-8 edge in the all-time series after the teams split a pair of games a year ago in DeLand, Fla. (W, 9-2; L, 13-5).

Drexel is off to a 1-3-1 start after one weekend of action, rallying from a season-opening three-game skid to earn a win (11-3) and a tie (1-1) against Akron at Mercer's Black and Orange Challenge. Hannah Walker is off to a torrid start, hitting .455 for a team batting .242 as a squad. The Dragons were solid in the field (.960) in its opening week outside, while posting a 4.77 team ERA for fourth-year head coach Carl Taylor. The Big Red leads the all-time series with the Dragons 13-4, though the two teams haven't met since the 2005 season, a 4-1 victory that extended Cornell's win streak to four games.

The host Hatters are 6-7 on the year and enter the week riding a four-game win streak that featured victories over Colgate (2-1) and a two-game sweep of Brown (3-2, 13-7). Stetson is hitting .309 as a team in large part because of Ashley Smith (.465, 11 RBI) and Kasey Fava (.400), who also both have seven stolen bases apiece. Starters Tori Perkins (2-4, 2.31 ERA) and Jaime Tino (4-2, 2.76 ERA) lead the pitching staff. Frank Griffin is in his 22nd year directing the Stetson program, enters the weekend with 930 career victories. Stetson holds a commanding 24-4 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1997 and has won 14 consecutive meetings, including a 16-4 decision last season.

Tennessee State is 0-12 on the year and has been outscored 91-28. Bri Vire is batting a team-best .276, while Erica O'Kane is hitting .250 with a pair of home runs. Tennessee State has a solid .964 fielding percentage, but has a 7.94 ERA in the circle. Lauren Powell is 0-7 with a 5.80 ERA, but is limited opponents to below a .300 batting average in more than 40 innings of work. First-year head coach Andrea Browning will be guiding the Tigers into the program's first-ever meeting with the Big Red.