Softball Looks For 12th Straight Win Tomorrow

By | April 30, 2004

As the sun makes its inaugural appearance in Ithaca this week and Cornell students begin to shed months and months of accumulated body frost, it’s clear that heat is on people’s minds. Yet, this is old news for the red-hot softball team, which has been heating up Niemand-Robison Field all spring en route to clinching a share of the Ivy League title.

Now, with the regular season over and three more non-league contests left to settle, the streaking Red has a new focus: keeping the fire alive. According to head coach Dick Blood, this task should not be too difficult.

“The ladies have really played with passion lately,” Blood said. “We realize we have clinched a share of the title, but we still need to stay sharp.”

The Red (35-11, 10-4 Ivy) takes on Quinnipiac at home tomorrow having won 13 of its last 14 games and the last 11 straight. Cornell’s recent dominance was rewarded again by the Ivy League this week, as senior pitcher Sarah Sterman was named Ivy pitcher of the week and junior first baseman Melissa Heintz took home Ivy player of the week honors. Sterman was instrumental in the Red’s two-game sweep of Princeton last weekend, throwing 12 innings against the Tigers and posting a 1.08 ERA for the week. Heintz went 11-24 with three doubles and three home runs, raising her season batting average to .339.

Individual accolades aside, the players on the squad are still salivating for one final trophy: the Ivy League championship award, and with it, an automatic berth to the NCAA regional tournament. Although Cornell has already earned its share of the title, Blood and his squad are not very excited with the prospect of sharing it with anyone else.

“We would love to have Yale beat [Brown],” Blood said. “The major consideration is who gets the NCAA bid.”

Brown is the only team left that still has a shot to claim a share of the title. With an 8-4 league record thus far, the Bears have to beat Yale twice tomorrow in Providence to equal the Red’s record. If Brown is swept or splits the doubleheader, Cornell will be the sole possessor of the top spot. Should Brown sweep the Bulldogs, the Bears will play the Red in a one-game playoff to decide which team gets to compete in the NCAA tournament.

With so much on the line, will the Red be watching the scoreboard in Providence?

“We hate to admit it, but we probably will be,” Blood said.

In the meantime, the Red will be hosting the Bobcats (21-20 16-4 NEC), in a doubleheader of its own tomorrow. Quinnipiac currently sits in second place in the Northeastern Conference, having won three of their last four games.

The Red will likely face the anchors of the Bobcats’ pitching staff, sophomore Kim Norman (9-3, 2.33 ERA) and senior Melissa Reynolds (9-7, 2.37 ERA). The two have combined for 140 strikeouts this season, walking only 53 batters in the process.

Quinnipiac’s lineup is led by sophomore Alyssa Mansolf, a Connecticut native who boasts a batting average of .306 and has notched 33 triples on the year. The outfielder also has driven in eight runs thus far.

Sterman and company will also be watching for Norman on the other side of the plate, as the pitcher / outfielder has knocked in 13 runs of her own this season from the batters’ box. Yet, as usual, Blood and the rest of the squad will be taking the same calm, get-the-job-done attitude to the field tomorrow. And when the Red’s offense and defense are clicking as well as they are now, that job will be all the easier to accomplish.

“We plan on staying level-headed and businesslike,” Blood said.

Junior Lauren May continues to strike fear into opposing pitchers’ hearts, leading the Red with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs. The power-hitting shortstop has also proved to be virtually indestructible, starting all 46 games for the Red this season and accumulating a Bonds-esque slugging percentage of .827.

Senior Kate Varde has also made a convincing final statement in the realm of softball lore, producing nine home runs and 30 RBIs in her farewell campaign. The center fielder out of New Trier High School also leads the team in runs scored with 46.

Archived article by Kyle Sheahen
Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Baseball Falls to Princeton in Three Out of Four

By May 3, 2004

Four games, four wins. This statement summed up the baseball teams’ only hopes for a Gehrig Division crown prior to this weekend’s four-game set with Princeton. Indeed, the Red had four games, but just one win as the Tigers took home their second consecutive Gehrig title. The first of two doubleheaders between these two ballclubs was played Friday on Hoy Field, with Princeton (24-18, 12-8 Ivy) taking the first game, 14-2. Princeton came out swinging in the seven-inning contest, scoring three runs in the first inning, with the big blow coming from Will Venable’s single to drive in two runs. The Red (12-29, 6-13) tacked on two in the bottom half of the inning, as freshman Kaleb Hutchinson drove in sophomore Seth Gordon, and then senior co-captain Dan Parant scored on shortstop Matthew Becker’s error. Yet, that would be all the scoring for the Red, as the team mustered just six hits in the contest. Gordon led the Red at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base, while Hutchinson and senior Ned VanAllan tallied RBIs. The Princeton lineup torched the Red for six runs in the second inning off senior Dan Gala, who started the game and lasted just 1 1/3 innings. Gala gave up seven hits and eight earned runs while walking two and striking out three. Gala took the loss to fall to 1-5 on the season. Gala was relieved in the second by sophomore Michael Hudson, who lasted just 1/3 of an inning, after allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks. Senior Sam Sinkavich closed out the second inning for the Red, but he too needed relief, after giving up two unearned runs in the top of the fourth. Sinkavich left after giving up four hits and one walk, while striking out one Princeton hitter. Junior Matthew Light, the Red’s fourth pitcher of the game, finished up the fourth inning with no problem. However, he was tossed around by the Princeton lineup for a run in the fifth inning and another two in the sixth. The growl in the Tiger offense came from B.J. Szymanski, who contributed five hits to Princeton’s 20 overall in five at-bats, scoring three runs and driving in four. The Red bats came alive in the second game of the doubleheader as the lineup smacked 10 hits in a 7-5 victory. The Red took an early 1-0 lead as sophomore William Pauly hit a sacrifice fly to score Gordon, and then went up 3-0 in the fourth on senior David Bredhoff’s double which plated two. Junior Tad Bardenwerper, who got the win to improve to 2-4 on the season, went 6 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs in the top of the sixth. He allowed eight hits and three walks in the game. Freshman Blake Hamilton pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief — giving up three runs in the top of the ninth — but it wasn’t enough as the Red plated one in the seventh and two in the eighth to make its lead 7-2. The Red was led at the plate by Parant, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and an RBI, and VanAllan, who was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. The Red had less success in its doubleheader with Princeton yesterday on Clarke Field in New Jersey. In a 4-1 loss in game one, the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after three innings, before Hutchinson scored the Red’s only run of the game off a stolen base and a wild pitch. Senior Luke Staskal suffered the loss, dropping him 1-5 on the season, after going six innings and giving up four runs — three of them earned — on four hits and five walks. He struck out four Princeton batters. At the plate, the Red, who tallied just five hits in the seven-inning affair, was led by VanAllan and Pauly, who were each 2-for-3. The Red managed 12 hits in the second game, a 3-2 loss, but left 10 runners stranded on base. The Tigers scored all three of their runs in the fourth and fifth innings, and held a 3-0 lead before the Red tallied a run after three straight singles in the top of the sixth to score VanAllan. The Red made it a 3-2 ballgame in the seventh on a double by Gordon and a Princeton error. Yet, that is the way the game would end as the Red couldn’t push another run across the plate. The leaders for the Red at the plate were VanAllan, who was 2-for-4 with a run scored, Gordon, who was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a run scored, Bredhoff, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and junior Matt Miller, who was 3-for-5 with a stolen base. Gala fell to 2-5 after six innings, as he gave up three runs — two of them earned — on seven Tiger hits, and four walks. Sinkavich struck out two in his two no-hit innings in relief. The Tigers will travel to face Red Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth next weekend in the Ivy League Championship Series, after a game with Rider on Wednesday. The Red will close out its season today, as it plays host to Columbia in a make-up game. Archived article by Chris MascaroSun Assistant Sports Editor
M. Lax Wins Second Straight Title

By May 3, 2004

On a day set aside to honor Cornell’s seniors, it was a freshman who stood out. Red goaltender Matt McMonagle made four crucial second-half saves as he and the team held on for a 10-9 victory over Brown. The win earned Cornell the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid, and at least a share of the Ivy title. “[McMonagle] did a great job. At the end, I thought they were taking some tough shots on them,” said head coach Jeff Tambroni. “He made some huge saves down the stretch, one on a extra man when he made a foot save, and he did enough to give us a win. Hopefully that’s going to give him the confidence he needs for the rest of the year and hopefully for the rest of his career.” “I couldn’t be happier to get this win for the seniors,” McMonagle said. “I’m feeling pretty good, I feel I’m starting to get on a role. I have a lot of high expectations for myself, and at times I haven’t felt like I’ve given myself a chance to get there.” Cornell quickly got off to a torrid pace, earning the first goal of the game at 0:52 when senior Tim DeBlois fed junior Sean Greenhalgh to catch Brown off guard while transitioning to defense. Sophomore Joe Boulokos made it 2-0 a few minutes later as Cornell continued to cycle the ball in Brown’s end. The Bears evened things up with a late first- and early second-period goal, but then Cornell began to pull away. Five different players combined for a two-period, seven goal run that put Cornell ahead 9-2 by the early third quarter. Brown, however, was not ready to concede defeat. The Bears quickly began chipping away at Cornell’s lead. “I thought we took good shots. [Brown goalie Mike] Levin made some nice saves early, and then I just asked them to stay the course,” Tambroni said. “We didn’t want to get away from what we’re doing. The key with Brown is if you take five-to-seven-yard shots, you’ll have success. If you take anything more than that, Levin is too good of a goalie to give him that long to see the ball because he’ll make saves. At the end, he made some tight saves, and we were taking some three- or four-yard shots.” Senior Andrew Collins scored on an assist from classmate Dave Pittard, but the lone fourth-quarter goal was not enough to swing the momentum back to Cornell. Brown senior Chazz Woodson later scored two goals in three minutes to make the score 10-8, yet with 3:13 left to play Cornell remained confident. “Our last four games have ended the same way,” DeBlois said. “I think we’ve just shown the kind of courage and tenacity that our team has shown throughout the year. It’s no coincidence that we bounced back after something so traumatic like that. When we get in those situations, I look around and there’s no panic. We’ve been there before.” Brown tallied a final goal with 12 seconds left to make the score 10-9, but Cornell smothered the ball, and any chances of Brown forcing overtime, as the clock wound down. “I think it was great that we put ourselves in a position to be able to still pull out a victory after that comeback they made,” Collins said. “They happen to be a very good team and good teams are going to go on runs like that. I thought that we handled ourselves well, and the defense was able to get a good stop and we pulled out a win.” While Cornell has secured the league’s NCAA tournament bid, it’s hopes for an outright Ivy League title rest with the Bears. Brown plays Princeton next weekend, and a Tiger loss would give Cornell it’s first outright Ivy championship in 17 years. The team will focus on preparing for Hobart on Friday. A win over the Statesmen would greatly improve the Red’s chances of hosting a first-round NCAA tournament game in two weeks. The team will then await the result of the Brown-Princeton matchup on Saturday and the identity of its eventual opponent in the first round of the national tournament. “The 2002 year gave this group an opportunity to be in the position to be successful. They never were in that game before, in that situation to understand how to prepare to be successful,” Tambroni said. “This team has had that great fortune. I think that might be a big part of why we won today, we’ve been there before and they dug in and got a stop when they needed it, and the rest is history.” Archived article by Matt JanigaSun Senior Editor