As former assistant coach Tara Tembey makes the transition to head coach of softball, she hopes to end the season on a high note and keep the team grounded.
“I’m excited for the opportunity,” Tembey said. “We’ve got three games in front of us, and it’s just making sure we’re where our feet are and taking every game one pitch at a time.”
Cornell (16-19, 6-12 Ivy) underwent a stretch of five away games against tough opponents beginning with a Wednesday doubleheader at Binghamton University (26-12, 14-2 America East), followed by a three-game series at Columbia University (20-16, 12-6 Ivy). The Red went 1-4 over the course of the week, taking one out of two against Binghamton and being swept by Columbia.
Game one of the Binghamton doubleheader was a 6-2 loss for the Red. Binghamton jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double and two-run homer. In the top of the third, freshman outfielder Charlize Cai doubled to score Cornell’s first run of the game.
Binghamton extended their lead to 4-1 with another RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, and in the top of the fifth Cornell cut the lead to 4-2 with junior catcher Lauren Holt scoring on a passed ball. Binghamton pulled further ahead with a two-run sixth inning to seal the game. Despite notching eight hits, Cornell was unable to cash in on opportunities with runners in scoring position.
Game two against Binghamton was a 4-1 Cornell victory. Through the first two and a half innings, the game was scoreless. In the bottom of the third, Binghamton broke through with an RBI double down the left field line to take a 1-0 lead. From there, Cornell took over.
“We manufactured runs, we put people on base and we created a little bit of chaos,” Tembey said. “That was what we took advantage of.”
In the top of the fourth, junior outfielder Sydney Stapf hit a two-run homer to left field, giving Cornell a 2-1 lead. In the top of the fifth, sophomore infielder Samantha Albert scored on a wild pitch, and in the seventh senior infielder Emma Antich stunned the Binghamton defense by stealing home. Junior pitcher Kyrie Denny blanked the Binghamton offense over the final four frames as Cornell took the win in game two. The winning pitcher was Denny, who pitched a complete game, allowing only one earned run and striking out three.
The Columbia series began with a Saturday doubleheader, and game one was a 9-0 loss for the Red. Columbia dominated over the full five innings, powered by a five-run second inning which was capped off with a two-run homer to center field. Columbia’s pitching gave the Cornell lineup a hard time all game, with Cornell racking up only three hits in the shutout loss.
Game two of the series was an 8-4 loss for Cornell. Columbia jumped out to another early lead with a three-run first inning. Cornell responded immediately with three runs of their own as a series of RBI singles by Antich and junior infielder Ella Harrod tied the game in the top of the second.
The relentless Columbia attack pulled ahead again in the bottom of the second with four RBI singles to take a 7-3 lead. In the top of the fifth, freshman infielder Emma Harshberger cut the lead down to 7-4 with an RBI double, but Columbia held on and took the second game of the series.
In game three, Cornell was unable to avoid being on the wrong side of a series sweep and took a lopsided 10-2 loss. Through the first four innings, Columbia notched eight runs, headlined by two home runs and four RBIs from infielder Payton Shimansky. Cornell broke the shutout in the top of the fifth with a double from Holt which drove in two runs, but two more runs from Columbia in the bottom of the fifth sealed the game and series sweep.
“It’s about what we can control and the things we can focus on,” Tembey said. “Tangible items that can provide different outcomes to adjustments we can make… things that we can really control.”
Cornell’s final competition of the regular season will be a three-game series at Cambridge, Massachusetts, against Harvard University. Fans can catch the action live on ESPN+ beginning on Saturday, May 3rd at 12:30 p.m.
