ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red will play its home finale when Central New York rival Syracuse visits Niemand•Robison Field on Monday, April 30 at 4 p.m. The contest is the final scheduled home game for seniors Zoe Hernandez, Rebecca Kubena, Megan Murray, Maddie Orcutt and Tori Togashi.
Cornell is coming off a Senior Day walk-off win over Columbia in Sunday's third game of an Ivy League series to match last year's win total (13) while improving to two games ahead of its conference mark from 2017 (8-10). After struggling at the plate with just 11 runs over seven games, the Big Red bats have come alive recently, averaging 7.8 runs per game over the last five contests.
Head coach Julie Farlow's program continues to show steady improvement, surpassing its Ivy win total over last year. Cornell needs one more victory this season to surpass last year's tally and would clinch its first winning Ivy League record since 2012 with a weekend sweep. In all, five regulars are hitting better than .320 led by sophomore Erin Rockstroh (.439, 17 RBI). Senior Megan Murray has been steady throughout her career and ranks second on the team with a .407 batting average. She enters her final home game with a career .350 batting average (No. 9 all-time at Cornell) and also ranks among the school leaders in doubles (No. 5, 41), hits (No. 9, 173) and on-base percentage (13th, .398). Rebecca Kubena (.362) and sophomore Kate Jencarelli (.346, three home runs, 21 RBI), as well as Tori Togashi (.322, four home runs, 23 RBI), are also above that mark. Sophomore Bridgette Rooney has a team-best six home runs and has driven in 18. Sophomore Lisa Nelson has established herself as one of the top hurlers in the Ancient Eight and is 7-6 with a 3.74 ERA while ranking among the conference leaders with her 76 strikeouts. Nelson's sophomore classmate, Katie Lew, is 5-10 in a team-high 98.0 innings of work and has pitched 10 complete games in 15 starts. Both Maddie Orcutt (1-6, 6.93 ERA) and Cora Geunes (0-1, 9.15 ERA) have earned important innings in the circle as well.
Syracuse is 28-19 on the year and 9-12 in ACC play following a two-game home split with North Carolina this past weekend. The Orange have won 10 of their last 12 entering Monday's game. Bryce Holmgren is batting a team-best .412 on the season with 33 runs scored and 32 RBI and is reaching base at a .552 clip. Syracuse is limiting opponents to a .198 batting average on the season, with Alexa Romero limiting teams to a .143 average in 166.2 innings of work on her way to a 17-12 record and 260 strikeouts. Head coach Mike Bosch is in his third season directing the program and has guided the squad to a 85-64 record over that span.
Syracuse holds a 16-9 lead in the all-time series and has won eight of the last nine meetings between the teams over the last decade. The Orange holds a narrow 8-6 edge in games played in Ithaca. Syracuse won last season's meeting 6-2 in the Big Red's season finale in a five-inning, rain-shortened game despite two hits and two RBI from Madeline Avery. Cornell's last win in the series came in a 3-2 contest in Syracuse in the second game of a 2013 doubleheader.
The Big Red will close its 2018 campaign with a three-game Ivy League series at Princeton. The two teams will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday, May 5 at 12:30 p.m. before playing a single game on Sunday, May 6 at 12:30 p.m. Princeton holds a 38-32 edge in the all-time series, including posting a 10-4 edge since 2014.
