ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will head back South looking to make a big leap forward from its opening weekend when it plays four games at the George Washington Colonial Classic. The Big Red will be in search of its first win of 2019 after starting the year 0-5.
Cornell will open against UMBC on Saturday at 9 a.m., before playing the first of two games on the weekend against Manhattan at 1 p.m. The Big Red will then face Canisius at 9 a.m. on Sunday and close out the tournament with a second contest against the Jaspers at 1 p.m.
Four Big Red freshmen hit better than .300 in their first weekend outside while making their collegiate debuts, and six rookies earned at least four starts at the Madeira Beach Invitational. After a weekend to regroup, Cornell will now focus preparations on Ivy League play just two weeks out.
Emily McKinney leads the newcomers, bursting out of the gates with hits in four of the team's first five games and a robust .400 average, including a team-high three doubles. Classmates
Miranda Lawson (.375),
Hanna Crist (.308) and
Allison Kerce (.308) are also hitting better than .300, with Lawson posting a .545 on-base percentage. They'll be backing up a rotation that includes
Lisa Nelson (0-3, 5.83 ERA) and
Katie Lew (0-2, 6.46 ERA).
At 3-5, UMBC enters the weekend having dropped two straight games. The Retrievers are batting .227 as a team, but limiting opponents to .228 at the plate. Sierra Pierce leads the offense (.462), while Courtney Coppersmith (2-2, 1.26 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 33.1 innings) paces the team in the circle. The Big Red has won five consecutive games in the series against UMBC, though the last meeting between the squads was in 2002.
Cornell and Manhattan have already played once, meeting in the final game in Florida with the Jaspers pulling out an 11-9 victory. The Big Red bats came alive after being shut out in three straight contests, piling up 12 hits and seven extra-base hits in the narrow loss. The Jaspers are 2-3 on the season with wins over the Big Red and Detroit Mercy. Adriana Gambino leads the team with a .529 batting average and a .600 on-base percentage, while Stephanie Kristo is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in four appearances. The Big Red holds a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series between the programs.
Canisius, like the Big Red, enters the weekend winless (0-6) after beginning the season in Hawaii. Kara Paradowski is batting .500 with four runs scored in six games. Both Alexis Churchill (0-2, 5.68 ERA) and Emily Nicosia (0-2, 6.00 ERA) have been the primary pitchers for the Golden Griffins, with Lauren Castro (0-2, 13.44 ERA) also picking up a pair of starts. The Big Red leads the all-time series 13-8, with one-run victories in both 2015 (7-6) and 2017 (3-2) at neutral sites.
