By wpengine
For several weeks now, baseball’s major leaguers have been enjoying sunny Florida for the spring training season. Over spring break, the softball team joined them in the more pleasant southern climate. The Red had a stretch of 15 games in only eight days, with the team capturing wins in 11 of those contests. The Red began its road trip in Kissimmee for the Rebel Spring Games. Cornell got off to a great start, winning the first two games over Fordham and SE Missouri State. In game one, the Red was able to hold off the Rams by a score of 1-0 behind a strong pitching performance by senior Sarah Sterman. Sterman threw seven innings of scoreless ball, scattering five hits in the process. In game two, the Red again relied on its pitching as sophomore Whitney Smith tossed a complete game, allowing only one unearned run on three hits. The following day, the Red split a doubleheader with Colgate. In game one, Cornell won 2-0 behind another strong outing by Kristen Landis. The sophomore allowed only two hits over 5 and 1/3 innings with Sterman closing out the final inning and 2/3. Freshman Erin Murtha drove in the only two runs with a RBI double to right field. In the second game against the Raiders, the Red were unable to get the bats going and lost 3-0. After four games in Kissimmee, Cornell traveled to DeLand, Fla. on Monday for the Stetson Invitational. The Red started off poorly, dropping both games in a doubleheader to Jacksonville State. Cornell got off to a bad start, surrendering a two-run home run in the first inning of game one. Unfortunately for the Red, the Gamecock’s offensive attack could not be slowed down, and the Red lost 16-5. The bright spot for the Red was a solo homer off the bat of junior catcher Melissa Heintz. In game two, Cornell could not stop the Gamecocks again, being shut out by a score of 8-0. The Stetson Invitational continued on Tuesday as the Red swept a doubleheader from Drexel 11-1 and 8-0, with the pitching staff returning to its former dominance. The team got off to a great start against the Dragons, as senior Kate Varde delivered a three-run home run in the second inning of game one. Sterman got the win, tossing five innings of one-run ball. In game two, Smith took the hill again, allowing no runs on two hits over six innings of work. On Wednesday, Cornell capitalized on its opportunity to avenge the two losses at the hands of Jacksonville State, beating the Gamecocks 14-8. Sweeney had a big day, going 2-4 with a grand slam. Cornell returned to action on Thursday, this time taking two games from Wright State. In game one, the Red was able to squeeze past the Raiders 3-1 behind a complete game by Sterman. In the second contest, Smith recorded her second shutout in as many starts, allowing only four hits in six innings. Cornell faced Drexel again on Friday, taking its third game from the Dragons in less than a week. Lauren May hit her sixth home run of the year to lead the Red to an 11-1 victory. The team continued its winning ways the following day, defeating Stetson 3-1 in the final game of the Stetson Invitational. Varde led the offensive attack for the Red, going 2-3 with a home run. The Red concluded its Florida trip with a split of a doubleheader with Bethune Cookman in Daytona Beach. The team fell 6-2 in the first game, but rallied back for a 5-3 win in game two, behind two homers by May. Cornell improved its record to 16-7 with the win. Archived article by Bryan PepperSun Staff Writer
By wpengine
The only California dreams the baseball team will have for the next few weeks will be nightmares after its spring break trip to the west coast. The squad lost all seven of its games by a combined score of 84-14, including a 31-3 loss to California-Santa Barbara. The Red lost four other games to the Gauchos to go with another two losses to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Red dropped its first contest to UCSB by a score of 12-1. The Gauchos blew the game open early as they scored nine runs in the first two innings off of sophomore Rocky Collis who fell to 1-2 on the season. Freshman Kaleb Hutchinson knocked in senior co-captain Jon Finch in the top of the eighth for the Red, who tallied 13 hits in the game, all of which were singles. Unfortunately for the Red, it was only able to bring one runner across home plate — stranding six runners in scoring position and six others on first. The difference in the Red’s 12-6 loss in the second game against UCSB was again the fast start by the Gauchos who scored six runs in the second inning and held on for a 12-6 win. Sophomore catcher Matt Goodson led the way for the Red offense, going 2-4 with two runs batted in and a run scored. Four other Red hitters had a multi-hit game, producing the largest run production on the squad’s seven-day trip. After the two games against the Gauchos, the Red traveled to San Luis Obispo to face No. 43 Cal Poly SLO. The Red dropped the first game by an 8-1 margin as the Mustangs jumped out to a 7-0 lead after five innings. The Red didn’t tally its run until junior Matt Miller singled home sophomore Seth Gordon with two outs in the seventh inning. Senior Dan Gala fell to 1-2 on the season after he gave up six runs on eight hits in three innings of work. The Red dropped the second game to Cal Poly by a 4-1 score despite 6 1/3 innings of solid work from junior Tad Bardenwerper who struck out four Mustang hitters. The Red held a lead for the first time on its trip as Finch scored on an error in the top of the second inning. Yet the Mustangs scored two runs in the third to take the lead for good. Upon its return trip to Santa Barbara, the Red was greeted with a 31-run bashing from the Gauchos. Five Red pitchers surrendered 27 hits, including five doubles and three round-trippers. Finch and Gordon led the way for the offense, accounting for five of the Red’s nine hits and both runs batted in. Finch notched his team-leading 11th RBI in the Red’s 11-1 loss to UCSB in the fourth game of the series. The single, which drove in senior Ned VanAllan for the Red’s lone score of the contest, was one of just four hits for Cornell. Hutchinson went 2-3 in the game, while sophomore William Pauly was 1-3. Pauly scored the only run of the game for the Red in its last game on the west coast, a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Gauchos. He was knocked in on a double by senior David Bredhoff in the second inning to give the Red a 1-0 lead. Collis, the Red’s starter, held UCSB scoreless until the sixth inning when the Gauchos scored three runs to seal the victory. Yet Collis (1-3) had a solid outing, giving up five hits with nine strikouts in six innings of work. After the spring break trip, the Red finds itself at 3-10 on the season. The squad will look to snap its eight-game losing streak on Tuesday when it travels to face Penn State. The Red’s first Ivy contests will be this weekend when it plays host to Harvard and Dartmouth. Archived article by Chris MascaroSun Assistant Sports Editor