Skip To Main Content

Cornell University Athletics

Cornell softball plays at Penn on March 23
Thomas Farlow/Cornell Athletics

Softball Hosts Columbia In First Home Series

3/29/2024 10:00:00 AM

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team opens its open slate when it hosts Columbia on Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. 

The Big Red and Lions have a doubleheader starting at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The series finale starts at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. 

Strikeout Cancer Initiative 

All eight Ivy League teams will be supporting the NFCA Strikeout Cancer Initiative on Saturday, March 30. Fans will be able to donate to various cancer organizations during the game at Neimand-Robison Field. 

Weekend Rewind

The Cornell softball team dropped two of three against the Penn Quakers in its first Ivy League series of the season over the weekend in Philadelphia. 

The Big Red snapped its 10-game losing streak in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. Lauren Holt broke a 4-4 tie with a three-run home run in the top of the 8th, and pitcher Kyrie Denny set the Quakers down in order in the bottom half of the inning to secure the victory. Denny pitched all eight innings and earned her first win of the season and the third of her career. 

Sophomore Ella Harrod and freshman Hailey Pirkey hit their first collegiate home runs in the series. Emma Antich homered in game three. 

Sophomore Slugger Holt Continues To Dominate 

Entering the weekend, Holt ranks fifth in the nation in runs batted in per game (1.41). She's first in the Ivy League in home runs (5) and RBI (24), second in slugging percentage (.741) and total bases (40) and fourth in batting average (.370). 

Holt's dominance at the plate began in Cornell's opening games of the season. She won Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in her collegiate career after driving in runs in bunches at the Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Florida. Over five games there, the sophomore slugger had two doubles, three homers, nine total hits in 17 at-bats and 14 of Cornell's 32 RBI. She hit a two-run homer and a grand slam in the Big Red's 10-9 loss to Middle Tennessee. 

The 2023 second-team All-Ivy performer led the Ivy League with nine homers and finished tied for third in RBI (28) as a freshman last season. Only six other players in Cornell history have led the Big Red in those categories as freshmen. 

Cornell HR and RBI leaders as freshmen: 

  • Stephanie Riggins (4 HR, 17 RBI in 1995)

  • Allison Batten (8 HR, 44 RBI in 1998)

  • Lauren May (16 HR, 52 RBI in 2002)

  • Meg Risica (8 HR, 30 RBI in 2006)

  • Alyson Inhitar (11 HR and 41 RBI in 2007)

  • Bridgette Rooney (10 HR, 30 RBI in 2017)

  • Lauren Holt (9 HR, 29 RBI in 2023)

Antich Also Among Ivy's Top Hitters

Antich has also been among the most dangerous hitters in the Ivy League so far this season. The junior is first in slugging percentage (.745) and on-base percentage (.516), tied for second in homers (4) and fifth in batting average (.362). She's driven in 11 runs (second on the team) and taken 12 walks (tied for second in the Ivy). 

Antich has been particularly impressive of late. Since March 15 (eight games), she's batting .380 (8-21) with three homers, two doubles and a triple. She's driven in eight runs in that span. 

Other Cornell Notes

  • Ella Harrod has been one of the toughest batters to strike out in the NCAA. She's 12th in the nation and second in the Ivy in that category (62.0)

  • Harrod is third in the conference with three sacrifice bunts 

  • Cornell is first in the Ivy League in slugging percentage (.402) and homers (12).

  • The Big Red is third in the league in on-base percentage (.361) and walks (63).

  • The Big Red has 26 doubles, the fourth-most in the Ivy. 

  • Covelli has been solid in the circle in her last two appearances. She's allowed just four runs on five hits with five strikeouts. 

  • Cornell drove in 142 runs as a team last season — good for fourth in the Ivy League. It returned 71% of that production, with 57% coming from Holt, Antich and Sydney Stapf. Those three drove in 81 runs. 

 Series History

  • Cornell owns a 40-30 all-time lead against Columbia. 

  • The Lions have won four in a row against the Big Red. 

  • The Big Red last beat Columbia in March 2022. Antich drove in a run, and current senior outfielder Marisa Zorrilla drove in the game-winning run with a single in the bottom of the 7th. It was her first collegiate hit.

Print Friendly Version