ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell softball team will close out the 2019 campaign looking to build on some late season momentum during a four game week. The Big Red will visit Central New York foe Syracuse for a single game on Wednesday, May 1 at 4 p.m. before heading to Ivy rival Harvard for a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 4 at 12:30 p.m. The season concludes with a single game against the Crimson on Sunday, May 5 at 12:30 p.m.

Cornell's game at Syracuse will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, while its three-game series with the Crimson will be televised on ESPN+.

The Big Red is 10-32 on the season while fielding one of the youngest teams in college softball, with seven of the squad's nine position players and one of the squad's two starting pitchers in their freshmen seasons. Despite their youth, head coach Julie Farlow's squad leads the league in home runs (30) and doubles (60). Cornell's batting average (.281) in league play is better than its overall total (.262), and the team is 7-13 in its last 20 contests (4-4 in its last eight) after going 3-19 to begin the year.

Freshman Allison Kerce (.336, seven home runs, 28 RBI) is batting .410 with a league-high five home runs in its 18 conference contests. Seven of the team's top eight hitters in Ivy play this season have been freshmen, with junior Bridgette Rooney the lone exception. In fact, seniors have only accounted for six of the team's 1,054 at bats offensively (99.4 percent), with freshmen accounting for 744 (70.6 percent). Rooney is tied with Kerce among the team's home run leader list (seven) and has driven in 27 while hitting .308.  

Freshman Ashley Delany (4-8, 7.18 ERA) and junior Katie Lew (6-16, 8.61 ERA) have combined for all 10 victories in the circle, with Lew striking out 54 in 100 innings of work. Delany is also hitting .375 in 56 at bats, a number that would be the highest batting average by a freshman in school history if maintained. Backing them is a team that sports a .950 fielding percentage.

The Orange is 20-28, including 6-5 at home at 2-8 in its last 10 contests. Alicia Hansen (.343, 11 doubles, three home runs, 34 RBI, 18 stolen bases) and Gabby Teran (.333, eight doubles, two home runs, 22 RBI, 12 stolen bases) lead the offense, while Alexa Romero (13-12, 3.35 ERA, 164 strikeouts in 133.2 innings) has been the team's primary starter, with both Sophie Dandola (5-7, 4.77 ERA) and Miranda Hearn (2-6, 4.92 ERA) combining to hurl 134.2 innings of their own. The Orange sports a .958 fielding percentage. Head coach Shannon Doepking is in her first season as head coach at SU following four seasons and two Ivy titles at Dartmouth.

The Crimson sports a 20-17 overall record and a 13-5 mark in league play. Harvard enters the final weekend of the regular season tied with Columbia for first place and needs just one win in the three-game set to clinch a spot in the Ivy League Playoff Series against the Lions. Three Harvard regulars are hitting better than .300, with Teagan Shaw (.304, six home runs, 20 RBI) and Meagan Lantz (.305, four home runs, 19 RBI) joined by Kaitlyn Schiffhauer (.302, two home runs, 14 RBI). Katie Duncan is 14-5 in the circle with a 2.79 ERA in 128.0 innings of work to lead the pitching staff. She has struck out 87 and hurled seven complete games in 18 starts. Grace Krantz (6-4, 5.38 ERA) has opened 11 contests. The Crimson have posted a .968 team fielding percentage under head coach Jenny Allard, who has won six Ivy titles.