ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will play its biggest Ivy League series since 2012 when it visits Dartmouth for three games with sole possession of second place on the line.The two teams will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 14 at 12:30 p.m. at Dartmouth Softball Park. The series will conclude with a single game on Sunday, April 15 at 12:30 p.m.

Cornell and Dartmouth enter the weekend with 6-3 records, 1.5 games behind first-place Harvard (8-4) and 1.5 ahead of fourth-place Penn (7-5). With four series ahead for both the Big Red and the Big Green, there's still plenty of softball left, but a matchup between contenders midway through the season puts Cornell in that position for the first time in six seasons.

In 2012, the Big Red went into a final four-game series at Princeton needing a sweep to catch Penn for a one-game playoff. Cornell won 2-1 games in 14 and 10 innings along the way to match Penn with a sweep, forcing a one-game playoff for the Ivy South Division. Now, with the divisional systems eliminated, the top two teams advance to the Ivy League Championship Series.

Cornell is 4-3 in its last seven contests with a four-game Ivy League win streak, its longest since sweeping doubleheaders from Yale and Brown on the road during the 2014 campaign. The Big Red has been solid in all three phases of the game, hitting .288 while sporting a .964 fielding percentage and a 4.26 ERA. Those numbers rank first, first and fifth in the Ancient Eight on the season.

Lisa Nelson ranks second in the Ancient Eight in ERA (2.87) and third in strikeouts (61) while posting a 6-4 record to lead the pitching staff. Classmate Katie Lew (5-8, 4.27 ERA) has also had a strong season in the circle. The duo combined for a four-hit, 1-0 shutout of Brown in the final game of last weekend's series, the first 1-0 triumph for the Big Red since 2013.

Sophomore Erin Rockstroh ranks among the Ancient Eight leaders in batting average, hitting .436 with 14 RBI as one of six regulars hitting .300 or better. Senior Megan Murray is batting .393 with nine doubles and a .438 on-base percentage, while Rebecca Kubena (.375), Kate Jencarelli (.333) and Tori Togashi (.305, three home runs, 13 RBI) have also been raking all spring. Sophomore Bridgette Rooney has turned it up as of late after setting a Cornell freshman record with 10 home runs a season ago and is now batting .301 with six home runs, including two on Tuesday against Colgate and five over the team's last seven games.

At 12-14 and 6-3 in Ivy League play, Dartmouth joins the Big Red in a tie for second place entering the weekend. Dartmouth is 6-2 in its last eight contests, with 2-1 series wins over Penn, Columbia and Princeton over its last three weekends. The Big Green's pitching has been a staple all year long, with Breanna Etheridge (3-6, 2.88 ERA, 65 strikeouts in 73.0 innings), Shelby Wilkinson (3-6, 3.34 ERA, 48 strikeouts in 52.1 innings) and Heather Turner (6-2, 4.48 ERA) all contributing significantly in the circle to the team easily leading the conference in team ERA (3.42). Batting .225 as a group, Micah Schroder is the lone regular hitting better than .300 (.349), with Morgan Martinello not far below (.291). Taylor Ward has a team-high five home runs.

The Big Red leads the all-time series 38-17, including 13-9 in Hanover, N.H. The Big Green has dominated the series recently, including winning eight straight overall.