Softball Hosts Cornell, Columbia in First Ivy Home Games This Year

The Harvard softball team continues its Ivy League season this weekend, taking on unbeaten Cornell (20-11, 6-0 Ivy) and last year's Ivy doormat, Columbia (11-15, 1-5).

This weekend's series of doubleheaders represents the Crimson's (12-14, 3-1) first conference home games of the year.

The Crimson comes in with some steam behind it.

Harvard went 3-1 to start out its Ivy season, splitting with Princeton (1-2, 6-5), and sweeping Penn (7-1, 9-3).

The Crimson takes on Columbia tomorrow, and looks to halt the Lions' recent strong play.

"I think we're going into Columbia a lot like we went into Penn," said tri-captain Mairead McKendry. "They'll be tough, but they'll also prepare us for Cornell."

After being shutout for four straight games, Columbia exploded against Brown, scoring eight runs and shutting out the Bears. The Lions belted 13 hits in that game, and sophomore Allison Buehler tossed a one-hitter in the win.

In the second game against the Bears, the Lions lost in eight innings, 3-0.

After a year of playing Ivy teams, the Lions are officially members of the Ivy League, and are working to make a name for themselves against some of the top teams in the Northeast.

One of those teams is Harvard, who comes in having knocked 32 hits in its last doubleheader.

Freshmen shortstop Rachel Goldberg had seven of those hits, going 7-for-8 with a slew of doubles and singles.

On Sunday, the Crimson takes on the league-leading Big Red. Despite its unbeaten record, Cornell had significant trouble getting by the same Brown squad that the Lions handled, 8-0.

The Bears were able to plate eight runs against the Big Red in the first inning. Cornell showed its grit, coming back to score nine in their half of the inning. The Big Red went on to win 14-10, and took the second game, 13-12.

While both games notched victories in Cornell's win column, the fact remains that the Big Red was challenged by one of the poorer teams in the league.

The Crimson, however, is not taking anything for granted.

"We had a bit of a disappointing loss against Princeton (Harvard lost 2-1)," McKendry said. "Cornell is a big series for us. I think any pressure we felt to go undefeated is off. We can play loose now."

The Crimson bats appear to be loose after the first weekend, and McKendry

credits two freshmen with pacing the offense.

"Rachel and Kim [Koral] have been great," McKendry said. "I can see when I watch them that their bats are really coming around. They work so hard in practice, and they seem to be seeing the ball better."

Koral was 6-for-8 against the Quakers, scoring four runs and knocking in two more.

Junior right fielder Sarah Koppel continues to lead the Crimson attack, as her three home runs and eight RBI-not to mention 12 hits in 19 at-bats-earned her Ivy League Player of the Week honors.

The Crimson expects to switch things up in the infield, according to McKendry. Despite the switches, the Crimson will be ready for the weekend.

"We still have our eyes on the league title," McKendry said.