ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will open a seven-game week over Spring Break with a pair of midweek non-conference road doubleheaders when the Big Red visits Morgan State on Tuesday, April 2 at 2 p.m. Cornell will visit Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday, April 3 at 2 p.m. before hosting Penn for a three-game Ivy League set beginning on Saturday, April 6.

Despite the Big Red's 3-19 overall record (2-4 Ivy), Cornell has shown steady improvement while playing as many as seven freshmen in the lineup at a time. Four of Cornell's top five hitters are freshmen, with second baseman Allison Kerce leading the way at .369 with a team-high of five home runs and 16 RBI. The five home runs is second in the Ivy League. Junior Bridgette Rooney has three home runs and 15 RBI while hitting .323, and her 17 home runs is one shy of joining the top 10 in school history. The Big Red is hitting .244 as a team, a mark that rises to .295 in league play.

Cornell's struggles have come in the circle due to injuries and inexperience. Rookie Ashley Delany, who is hitting .320 at the plate, owns two of the Big Red's wins (2-5) and sports a 7.15 ERA with four complete games in eight starts. Katie Lew is 1-9 and paces the team with 31 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work. As a team, Cornell is fielding at a .953 clip behind them and has been even better in conference play at .962.

Morgan State enters the week with an 8-20 record and has lost three straight after being swept by Manhattan last weekend. Haylee Bobos leads an offense batting .238 as a group with a .351 average. She has a team-high five doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI while starting in 23 of the team's games. Damishah Charles is hitting .296 in 19 starts. Stephanie Rundlett (5-14, 6.51 ERA) and Mikayla Barnard (3-5, 5.25 ERA) have seen a majority of the innings in the circle and have combined for all 28 starts. The team is fielding at .926 with 56 errors in the 28 contests. Third-year head coach Larry Hineline previously had been at Coppin State, becoming the all-time winningest coach in that program's history.

Mount St. Mary's head coach Anna Nagro has her team off to a 13-16 start entering a Monday conference contest at Sacred Heart. Shelbee Holcomb is batting .451 to lead an offense batting .300 as a group, with Lindsay Heinze hitting .352 with team highs of eight doubles, seven home runs and 22 runs scored. Amanda Berkley (5-9, 3.66 ERA) and Avery Neuhart (3-4, 3.88 ERA) have been the primary starting pitchers for a staff that sports a 3.66 team ERA. The Mountaineers are fielding at a .949 clip.