ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will attempt to build on its two-game win streak when it closes out its pre-conference tournament season with a visit to the Delaware Blue Hen Invitational beginning on Saturday, March 17 at UD Softball Stadium. The Big Red will play four games, with 10 a.m. contests on both Saturday and Sunday against Villanova, and afternoon contests against the host Blue Hens (Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at noon).

The contests will be the final tuneups prior to opening Ivy League play at home against Harvard on Saturday, March 24 at Niemand*Robison Field.

Cornell, under the direction of third-year head coach Julie Farlow, is off to a 4-5 start after a sweep of Siena and George Mason on day two of last weekend's Mason Cherry Blossom Classic. The Big Red is hitting .300 on the season with five regulars hitting .333 or better. Leading the way is senior Rebecca Kubena, who is hittign a blazing .706 (12-of-17) with three doubles in five starts. Tori Togashi is batting .500 with three home runs and nine RBI. The Big Red is fielding at a solid .969 clip with just eight errors in nine games behind the pitching of Katie Lew (3-2, 4.50 ERA) and Lisa Nelson (1-2, 5.89 ERA). Lew is the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Week after going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in two complete game starts at last weekend's Cherry Blossom Classic.

Delaware enters the week with a 4-14 overall record, snapping a four-game skid in its last game with a 4-2 win over Ohio. Third-year head coach John Seneca's team is coming off a 24-29 season and returns 13 letter winners and nine starters from that squad. Mariah Kondravy (.365, 19 doubles, five home runs, 40 RBI) and Anna Steinmetz (.363, 11 home runs, 45 RBI), the team's batting leaders fro ma year ago, have picked right up where they left off. Kondravy is hitting .327 with three homers and Steinmetz is hitting .347 with five home runs and 15 RBI. Sarah Piening (3-7, 7.38) leads the Blue Hens in the circle, while both Jordan Cargile (0-4, 3.75 ERA) and Maddi Marsh (1-3, 7.69 ERA) have split innings. Delaware is fielding at a .916 clips with a .232 batting average as a team. The Big Red leads the all-time series 6-3, including going 4-1 in the last five. The Blue Hens topped Cornell 5-4 in the last meeting on March 16, 2015.

The Wildcats are 6-9 on the season after going 3-2 at last weekend's South Florida Under Armour Showcase with victories over Army West Point, Central Michigan and Chattanooga. Villanova has gotten strong pitching from Anissa Amarillas, who is 6-4 with a 3.03 ERA while hurling 69.1 of the team's 99.2 innings in the circle. She also has a team-high four home runs at the plate. The Wildcats are fielding at a .978 clip and are hitting .263 as a group with three regular starters at .300 or better. Brittany Husk (.377) and Lauren Hanna (.370) lead the way at the plate for head coach  Maria DiBernardi, who has won more than 800 games from the Villanova dugout. The Big Red leads the all-time series 2-1, including winning the last meeting 2-1 on March 15, 2014.