ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team (4-15, 2-3 Ivy) split its doubleheader with the Columbia Lions on Saturday afternoon at Neimand-Robison Field, taking the first game 6-2 and dropping the second game 10-1 in six innings. 

Game one: Cornell 6, Columbia 2

The Big Red scored six unanswered runs after Columbia's Savannah Messner put the Lions ahead 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run homer. 

Cornell sophomore slugger Lauren Holt drove in sophomore infielder Ella Harrod with a single in the third, and senior infielder Lily Travieso tied the game with a bases-loaded walk later in the inning. 

A pair of Big Red freshmen -- Hailey Pirkey and Maddie Ullensvang -- had key hits in the later innings to put Cornell ahead and extend its lead. 

In the fifth, after Travieso reached on a fielder's choice, Pirkey drove a double to right field, scoring Ullensvang, who reached earlier in the inning on a single to right field. Ullensvang added two insurance runs in the sixth, doubling Holt and junior Emma Antich. Ullensvang scored on a Columbia error later in the inning to make it 6-2. 

Sophomore pitcher Madalyn Covelli earned the win in the circle, her third of the season. She allowed both Columbia runs on five hits and struck out three in 6.2 innings. Columbia had three walks. 

Sophomore Kyrie Denny recorded the final out of the game.

Game Two: Columbia 10, Cornell 1 (six innings)

Columbia struck first on Cami Neal's solo home run in the first and never trailed from there. After Cornell tied the game on an error by Columbia's Maddie Souza in the bottom of the first, the Lions scored nine unanswered runs en route to a 10-1 win. 

Columbia broke the game open in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring seven runs to take an 8-1 lead, with Souza's two-run home run in the fifth being the big blow. Neal hit her second home run of the game, that one a two-run shot, to make it 10-1 in the sixth. 

Up Next

Cornell and Columbia finish the three-game series on Sunday, with first pitch set for 12:30 p.m.