ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell softball team will embark on its spring break trip with a nine-game road swing that commences with an Ivy series at Yale beginning on Saturday, March 31 at 12:30 p.m. at 5K Corral Field in New Haven, Conn. All three games will be broadcast on the Ivy League Network.

Cornell sports a 7-10 overall mark (2-1 Ivy League) after a conference series-opening win over Harvard last weekend at home, followed by a 4-2 midweek loss to Binghamton in 12 innings. That game proved to be the fourth-longest in Big Red history. Sophomore Erin Rockstroh, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, enters the weekend on a tear with 10 hits in her last 11 at bats (.909) to raise her season average to .479. The Big Red has raised its average to .294 as a team and now has four regulars hitting .400 or better – Rockstroh, Rebecca Kubena (.442), Megan Murray (.418) and Kate Jencarelli (.407).

After registering a 5.40 team ERA a year ago, a run and a half below the previous season, Cornell has lowered it even further to 4.09. Starters Lisa Nelson (4-3, 2.93 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 45.1 innings) and Katie Lew (3-6, 4.04 ERA) have both been named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week this season. Along with three-year starter Maddie Orcutt, who has a career-low 3.50 ERA, and the Big Red is poised to continue to challenge for a much higher than its preseason prediction finish (eighth).

The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a 5-17 overall record, but are 3-3 in their last six contests and are 2-4 in Ivy play. Terra Jerpbak (3-5, 3.96 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 63.2 innings) and Miranda Papes (2-7, 3.65 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 46 innings) have led the way in the circle as Yale sports a 4.18 ERA. The team also ranks among the league leaders with a .964 fielding percentage. While Yale's pitching and defense have been solid through the first half of their season, the Bulldogs are hitting just .236 as a unit, though Sydney Grobman (.370) ranks among the league leaders in batting average. Francesca Casalino had a team-best three home runs and 10 RBI at the plate and has also pitched 32.2 innings with a 4.71 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 32.2 innings. Sixth-year head coach Jen Goodwin has guided Yale to 19 Ivy League wins in its last two seasons, its best stretch since going to the 20-game season format in 2007.