ITHACA, N.Y. -- A 17-run third-inning explosion in game two helped the Cornell softball team to a Saturday split in its Ivy League and home opener at Niemand-Robison Field. The Big Red won game two 21-10 in five innings after the Bulldogs won the first contest 12-4 in five frames. The Big Red improved to 9-7 (1-1 Ivy, while the Bulldogs moved to 14-13 (4-1 Ivy).
Lauren Holt led the Big Red offense with a monster afternoon, going 4-for-6 with a double, three hom runs, four runs scored and seven RBI, while
Emma Antich was 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored, three RBI and a pair of walks.
Charlize Cai had a huge game two, going 4-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI for a Big Red offense that hit .481 (25-of-52) on the day.
Game One
Yale led 12-1 entering the bottom of the fifth and the Big Red nearly extended the contest following a three-run shot by Holt, but it proved to be too little, too late.
The Bulldogs homered four times in the contest, including a pair by Lauren Perren in the first two innings. She ended the afternoon 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. In all, there were eight Yale extra-base hits in the contest and Emma Taylor picked up her seventh win of the season in the circle, scattering seven hits and allowing four runs.
Holt was 2-for-3 with a double and a home run, while
Emma Harshberger posted a pair of singles along with a walk. Besides the three-run shot by Holt,
Emma Antich also plated a run with a double in the second to cut Yale's lead to 5-1.
Yale scored two in the first, three in the second and four in the third to start to pull away from the Big Red in its home and Ivy opener. It led 12-1 entering the final frame, but Cornell rallied with three hits and three runs before leaving a runner on base that could have extended the contest.
Game Two
Cornell responded to the loss in game one by taking it out on the Bulldogs, jumping out to a 21-0 lead after just three innings. Included was a record 17-run third that lasted an hour and saw the Big Red collect 13 hits - including three by Cai, who was 4-for-4 in the game with four runs scored and three RBI. She finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle. Holt homered in the second and third innings after blasting a three-run shot in game one.
Six different players had multi-hit efforts, with
Addison Pressley (3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored) posting three hits.
Maddie Ullensvang and
Emma Antich scored three times, with Ullensvang hitting her first career home run.
Mila Fiordalisi went the distance to improve to 4-2 on the season, striking out three.
In a driving rain that came in later in the contest, Cornell's 17-run inning was the second-most ever scored in a single frame by the Big Red and the most ever plated at a contest at Niemand-Robison Field. Only a 20-run explosion in a 43-4 victory at Coppin State on March 19, 1995 was larger.
NEXT UP
The Big Red and the Bulldogs will play the rubber game on Sunday, March 23 at 3 p.m. at Niemand-Robison Field. The contest has been moved from 12:30 p.m. due to expected weather.
