Cornell, Harvard look to knock off Ivy champ Princeton

The Princeton Tigers will begin their quest to repeat as Ivy League softball champions when conference play begins this weekend. This will not be an easy task, though, as many teams, including Harvard, last season’s runner-up, looked competitive during the nonconference portion of their season.

Princeton (5-9) took part in the Stanford tournament this weekend, winning only one of five games. The Tigers defeated Winthrop 8-7 on Friday thanks to excellent offensive play by freshman Kelsey VandeBergh, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored, and senior Kathryn Welch, who went 3-for-4 with four RBI and one run scored. The Tigers would not be as successful the rest of the weekend. They fell to Stanford 1-0 later on Friday and dropped both of their games on Saturday, losing to Santa Clara 7-6 and Pacific 6-5. They closed out their weekend by falling to Winthrop 9-6 on Sunday.

Princeton will open its Ivy season at home this weekend with a double-header against Yale on Saturday and another one against Brown on Sunday.

Cornell is the most likely team to challenge Princeton for first in the Southern division. The Big Red is currently 19-5 and has had an excellent nonconference season.

Cornell played in the Rebel Spring Games this past weekend, winning all four contests. On Friday, the Big Red beat Fairleigh Dickinson 2-0 and Hartford University 9-5. They were victorious the next day as well, defeating Rider 8-0 and Wisconsin-Green Bay 10-1.

Cornell was led by junior third baseman and Ivy League Player of the Week Elise Menaker. Menaker hit .436 last week and went 3-for-3 in the game against Green Bay.

Ivy League Pitcher of the Week sophomore Elizabeth Dalrymple was also a major asset for the Big Red. Dalrymple went 4-0 during Cornell’s spring break trip and recorded an ERA of 0.94.

Cornell is scheduled to play a pair of double-headers against Brown and Yale at home this weekend.

Harvard (9-5) will also pose a threat to the Tigers’ hopes of repeating, as the Crimson finished first in the Northern division last year. Over the weekend, Harvard competed in the Highlander Classic, competing against Eastern Michigan, Radford, and Toledo. After dropping its first game against EMU 5-1 on Friday, the Crimson was able to bounce back and defeat the Eagles 10-6 on Sunday. Harvard also split with Radford, falling 8-0 on Saturday, but winning 3-2 on Sunday. The Crimson won its only game against Toledo 7-2.

Freshman pitcher and Ivy League Rookie of the Week Rachel Brown was named tournament MVP and received all-tournament honors. Brown posted a 1.62 ERA, 24 strikeouts, 13 hits, and three walks in 17 and a third innings of work.
This past Tuesday, Harvard split a double-header with UNC-Greensboro, losing the first game 3-0, but winning the second game by a score of 10-5.

The Crimson will travel to Columbia and Penn for a pair of double-headers this weekend.

After a successful spring break trip, the Lions (7-14) have had a tough time in their games near home. They dropped their home-opening double-header to Boston University, losing the first game 2-0 and the second by a score of 11-7. The Light Blue also lost both games to Monmouth on Sunday.

However, Columbia will get one more chance to tune-up before it faces Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. The Lions are scheduled to play Fairleigh Dickinson tomorrow. Earlier this season, the Light Blue fell to the Knights by a score of 5-4.

Dartmouth (6-10) played in the Capital City Classic this past weekend, dropping all four games to University of Nevada- Las Vegas, Colorado State, Brigham Young, and Sacramento State. However, the Big Green was able to come back and win the second game of its double header against St. Mary’s on Tuesday by a score of 3-1.

Dartmouth will travel to Penn and Columbia this weekend.

Penn (4-13) only played in two games this past weekend, dropping both games of its double-header against Monmouth by the same score, 0-1.

Penn will face Dartmouth and Harvard at home this weekend.

Yale (7-11) split a double-header with Marist this past Sunday. The Bulldogs lost the first game 3-2, but won the second 4-1. However, they lost both games against Providence on Sunday.

Yale will travel to Princeton and Cornell this weekend.

Brown (4-8) also participated in the Rebel Spring Games. On Friday, the Bears beat Army 5-1, but lost to Iona 1-0. The next day they also split their games, beating FDU 2-1, but falling to Wagner 5-4.

Brown also fell to Stetson and dropped a double-header against Jacksonville.

The Bears will play at Cornell and Princeton this weekend.