ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell softball (2-3) will travel to Charlottesville, Va. to face Hofstra, Seton Hall and host Virginia at the Party at Palmer Invitational this weekend with first pitch at 11 a.m. on Friday morning.

GAME INFO

Party at Palmer Invitational

Friday, February 28

Cornell vs. Hofstra – 11 a.m.

Cornell vs. Virginia – 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 1

Cornell vs. Seton Hall – 11 a.m.

Cornell vs. Hofstra – 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 2

Cornell vs. Seton Hall – 11 a.m.

HARSHBERGER IVY ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Emma Harshberger was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week for her first accolade from the league this season.

In her first weekend of collegiate softball, Harshberger totaled eight hits over 14 at bats for a .571 avg and .786 slugging percentage. The freshman assisted the team with three RBIs alongside one home run. She also added 28 putouts over five games at first base with one double play.

Harshberger had the only hit against Ohio State in the first game of the weekend, then stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning of the game against Siena to hit her first collegiate home run over the left center fence to give Cornell the lead in the first win of the season.

SCOUTING HOFSTRA

Hofstra is 0-9 on the season after attending the Getterman Classic and Liberty Softball Classic. The Pride have faced #24 Baylor, #3 Oklahoma and #25 Liberty in the first few games of the season. Tyler Douglas is leading the Pride with a .364 batting average while Alanna Morse leads with a .842 OPS and .524 slugging percentage. Mackenzie Fitzgerald, Chelsea Villar and Morse have each recorded one home run.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA

#25 Virginia is 10-5 receiving two ranked wins at the Shriners Children's Classic against #23 Kentucky and #4 UCLA. UVA is 5-0 at home and is currently on a six-game winning streak. The Hoos have totaled 13 home runs this season with Bella Cabral leading with four. Jade Hylton is leading the team in batting average (.348) and slugging percentage (.761). Savanah Henley has seen the most time on the mound for the Hoos with 29 total innings pitched and a 2.41 era.

SCOUTING SETON HALL

The Pirates have started their season 3-6 through two tournaments. With 27.1 innings pitched and three complete games under her belt, Kelsey Carr is leading Seton Hall on the mound with a 3-1 record and era of 1.79. Karr also bats for the Pirates and is leading the team with three home runs, six RBIs and a .667 slugging percentage. Also at the plate, Andrea Perez has the highest batting average at .360 with Olivia Gilbert recording the a team high seven RBIs.

MAKE IT HAPPEN GAMES RECAP

Cornell went 2-3 in their opening weekend of play at the Make It Happen Games in Madeira Beach, Fla where they faced Ohio State, North Florida and Siena. 

The Big Red dropped their first two games on Friday.

Cornell had two late hits in the sixth inning of their first game on Saturday against Siena to make its first comeback victory of the weekend. Maddie Ullensvang singled up the middle to get on base before Harshberger stepped up to the plate to hit her first collegiate home run over the left center fence. Mila Fiordalisi pitched a one hit game with ten strikeouts to hold the Saints to one run on the day.

In the next game against North Florida, Cornell totaled 11 hits led by Harshberger with three of her own. Lauren Holt smacked a long ball over the left field fence to score four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for the Big Red. Harshberger and Hailey Pirkey each earned three hits in the game. Off those three hit, Pirkey had four RBIs.

In the last game of the weekend, CU put together another sixth inning rally to earn five runs off five hits. Cornell scored the first run with an RBI single from Harshberger to score Holt. In the sixth, Holt and Harshberger each singled to right field. Charlize Cai then singled to right field to score the first run. With a single up the middle, Samantha Albert advanced runners while scoring Harrod. With bases loaded Ullensvang walked to score Cai before Susanna Pate doubled to left field to earn two RBIs to put the Big Red ahead 6-5.

UP NEXT

Cornell will participate in the UMBC Invite on March 7-9 before Ivy League play starts on March 22 at home against Yale.