ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team used a big effort in game two to knock off Princeton to split a Saturday Senior Day doubleheader with a 4-3 victory after dropping the opener 10-5. The Big Red blasted three home runs in the two games to maintain its Ivy League lead in that category. The Big Red moved to 9-32 (4-13 Ivy), while the Tigers are now 14-23 (10-7 Ivy).
Game 1 I Princeton 10, Cornell 5
Princeton used a pair of big innings, including a go-ahead five-run sixth inning, to break open a tight game and collect a 10-5 win.
Freshman
Olivia Rooney slammed a grand slam in the first inning, while fellow rookies
Allison Kerce,
Hanna Crist and
Ashley Delany each had a pair of hits. Delany scattered eight hits and three earned runs over 5.1 innings of work in the circle in addition to her two hits.
Allie Reynolds settled down after allowing five runs in the first, going the distance to pick up her ninth win of the season in the circle. Megan Donahey was 3-for-3 with a pair of walks at the top of the lineup, with Alex Viscusi hitting her first homer of the year in the ninth slot. Kaitlyn Waslawski was 2-for-4 and drove in three runs.
Princeton put four runs on the board in the top of the first, but the Big Red answered with five of their own in the bottom half of the frame to take the lead. After the Tigers knotted the score at 5-5 in the second, Delany and Reynolds settled in, not allowing any more damage until Princeton scored five in the sixth. Waslawski doubled in two runs to highlight the inning, with Allison Harvey driving in the go-ahead run with a double.
Prior to the game, the Big Red honored its lone senior,
Olivia Lam.
Game 2 I Cornell 4, Princeton 3
Katie Lew hurled a complete game, scattering six hits and surrendering just two earned runs and
Emily McKinney broke a 3-3 tie with a sixth-inning home run as the Big Red rallied for a 4-3 victory. Princeton led 3-1 heading to the bottom of the third.
McKinney and classmate
Hanna Crist each hit their fifth home run of the season as all eight Big Red hits were by freshmen, including four extra-base hits.
Allison Kerce doubled and drove in a run and both Crist and
Ashley Delany had two hits in the win.
Cornell got the Big Red on the board with a solo shot in the second, then answered a three-run third by the Tigers with two in the bottom half of the frame. Kerce hit a double to right-center that scored
Emily Muniz and
Miranda Lawson, who each had one-out hits. Lew stranded five runners over the next three innings to set up McKinney's go-ahead homer.
Megan Donahey, who ended the day 6-for-7, had three of Princeton's six hits in the contest.
Cornell overcame four fielding errors, with Lew stranding nine total baserunners in the victory.
Sunday's single game will start at 1:30 p.m. at Niemand-Robison field. The game was originally slated for a 12:30 p.m. first pitch.
