CAMBRIDGE, Ma - Big Red softball will open up Ivy-League play this weekend with a three-game slate in Cambridge, Massachusetts against Harvard. The Big Red and the Crimson will take the diamond this weekend for a three-game slate. Saturday's competition will be a double header, with Sunday's action coming as a single game. Cornell earned the victory in the most recent matchup, 10-4.

Cornell vs Harvard Last Matchup
Celia Macari slammed a pair of home runs and the Cornell softball team registered a season-high 14 hits in a 10-4 victory over Harvard on Wednesday, May 4th 2022 at Niemand-Robison Field. The Big Red improved its record to 16-21 (6-12 Ivy), while the Crimson fell to 21-18 (15-6 Ivy). Harvard raced out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held it until the Big Red put up a for-spot in the third to take the lead for good. 

Cornell strung together five hits in the frame, cutting the deficit in half on a Maicie Levitt sacrifice fly and, two batters later, taking the lead at 4-2 after Macari's three-run homer to left-centerfield - her first homer of the season and second of her career. The Big Red put the game out of reach the following inning with five runs on three hits, a walk and a pair of errors, highlighted by Macari's second homer in two innings, this time to left. Her two-run shot made it 9-2.

The visitors got two runs back in the sixth, but Maday settled down and retired the Crimson in the seventh after they put runners on second and third with one out, keeping the scoreline where it was after McKinney scored on a wild pitch after tripling with one out in sixth. Her long shot hit the top of the wall and bounced back into the field of play as she ran the bases for her second career triple.

Athletes To Watch
Macari and Sydney Stapf will be a pair to watch for the Big Red as they have gotten off to strong starts to the year. Stapf is currently tied for the most hits on the squad with 12, to go along with her team-leading eight runs scored. The freshman infielder has been a spark plug at the plate early in the season, batting runners in and scoring runs herself at critical moments of the game. Macari has registered a .316 batting average to start the season and is currently tied as the team leader in hits with 12.

Freshman infielder Finley Payne has been having an outstanding start to her Harvard career, leading her squad in batting average (.405), to go along with six runs on 15 hits. Senior catcher Allison Heffley has been a scoring machine, with 22 hits as she sits atop her team rankings in scored runs with 12. Riley Flynn has appeared on the mound in 12 contests for the Crimson, accumulating a 3.62 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 38.2 innings played.

Big Red Slate
Cornell vs Harvard, Saturday, March 25 @ 12:30 p.m.
Cornell vs Harvard, Saturday, March 25 @ 2:30 p.m.
Cornell vs Harvard, Sunday, March 26 @ 12:30 p.m.