Complete Softball Weekly Release in pdf format

Photos courtesy Cornell and Penn Atheltic Communications

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The 2015 Ivy League softball season is winding down, and the North and South divisions will both be decided in the final weekend of the regular season.

Penn (19-17, 10-6 Ivy) and Princeton (15-22, 7-7 Ivy) played four important games against each other last weekend, with the two tangled at the top of the South division. The Quakers took three of four and set themselves up as the front-runner to win the division and make the Ivy League Championship Series. Penn outscored the Tigers 13-3 in its three wins, but Princeton was able to come from behind to take the final game and avoid the sweep. 

Harvard (20-19, 11-5 Ivy) stayed alive in the North by going 3-1 against Yale (9-20, 3-11 Ivy), setting up a season-finale showdown with Dartmouth (21-14, 14-2 Ivy) for the division crown. The Big Green could have wrapped up the North with a sweep of Brown (11-19, 5-11 Ivy), but dropped the second game of the four-game series to the Bears.

This means the North is set for an exciting home-and-home series between the Crimson and the Big Green. Dartmouth needs to take one of the four to win the division. If the Crimson find the sweep, they win the North crown. Which ever team wins the division will host the Championship Series. 

Princeton has two makeup games with Yale on Wednesday, and two victories would put them a game behind Penn for the South. The Tigers will take on Cornell (12-21, 6-10 Ivy) in the pivotal final series of the season and the Quakers will travel to Columbia (14-24, 6-10 Ivy). The Lions and Big Red are both not mathematically eliminated from contention for the Championship Series. Both teams would need to sweep in order to cause a tie with Penn, forcing a playoff.

The Big Reds' series with Princeton will also mark the final regular-season game for Dick Blood as the head coach of Cornell. Blood is Cornell's winningest coach in a single sport in school history and will be stepping down after this year, his 20th season with the Big Red.  

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cornell sophomore Chloe Pendergast hit safely in every game last week, helping the Big Red take three of four from Columbia and keeping Cornell's season alive. Pendergast hit .471 while hitting safely in all five games in which she played, driving in five runs. She had a pair of doubles, stole a base and scored a run while handling all 24 field opportunities flawlessly. She drove in three runs as part of a 4-for-7 day in Saturday's doubleheader sweep at Columbia.  

Pendergast's Statistics for the Week
.471 Avg., 1 R, 2 2B,5 RBI,1 SB, 0 K  

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Penn senior Alexis Borden was key in the Quakers taking three of four in the biggest series of the Ivy League season thus far. The Ivy leader in strikeouts added 14 more to her collection while only walking five in 18.1 innings of work. Her finest performance was a complete-game shutout in Penn's 4-0 win on Saturday, giving up just three hits and striking out five. She followed that up by going the distance again to start Sunday on a winning note for the Quakers, allowing two runs and punching out four. 

Borden's Statistics for the Week
4 GP, 3 GS, 2 CG (1 CG shutout), 2-1, 18.1 IP, 14 K, 5 BB, 1.53 ERA   

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
Cornell freshman Maddie Orcutt was 2-2 with a 1.86 ERA with three complete games and 17 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work. She allowed opponents to hit just .212 on the week. Orcutt pitched in all four of Cornell's games at Columbia, helping the Big Red to a 3-1 series win over the Lions. She hurled a complete game shutout with five strikeouts in a 6-0 win over the Lions to open the series, then bounced back later that afternoon for 2.2 innings of hitless relief.  

Orcutt's Statistics for the Week
4 GP, 3 GS, 3 CG (1 CG shutout), 2-2, 26.1 IP, 17 K, 1.86 ERA, .212. BAA

HONOR ROLL
Leah Allen,  Penn (So., OF – Woodbine, Md.)
5 GP, .429 Avg., 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI 

Trista Chavez, Brown (Sr., 3B/1B – San Pedro, Calif.)
5 GP, .429 Avg., 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI 

Hayley Davis, Harvard (Jr., UT – Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
4 GP, .500 Avg., 5 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 1 SB 

Laina Do, Yale (So., 2B – Burbank, Calif.)
6 GP, .400 Avg., 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

Maddy Kaplan, Harvard (Fr., OF – Santa Monica, Calif.)
5 GP, .412 Avg., 3 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI  

Lauren Li,  Penn (Jr., P/UT – Los Angeles)
5 GP, .364 Avg., 5 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB

Katie Orona, Brown (Fr., P – Pueblo, Colo.)
3 GS, 1-2, 3 CG, 12.2 IP, 8 K, 3.32 ERA 

Laura Ricciardone, Harvard (Sr., P – Slidell, La.)
4 GP, .385 Avg., 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI   

Kristen Rumley, Dartmouth (Sr., P – Katy, Texas)
2 GP, 2 GS, 2-0, 2 CG, 14.0 IP, 16 K, 0.50 ERA

Vanessa Weaver, Penn (Sr., 2B – Yorba Linda, Calif.)
4 GP, .500 Avg., 1 R, 2 RBI 

Cara Worden, Princeton (Sr., C – Santa Ana, Calif)
5 GP, .417 Avg., 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 22
*Yale at Princeton, 2 pm [DH] [ILDN]  

Thursday, April 23
Siena at Cornell, 3 pm [DH]  

Friday, April 24
*Brown at Yale, 2 pm [DH] [ILDN]  

Saturday, April 18
*Princeton at Cornell, 12:30 pm [DH]
*Yale at Brown, 12:30 pm [DH] [ILDN]
*Penn at Columbia, 12:30 pm [DH]
*Harvard at Dartmouth, 2:00 pm [DH] [ILDN]

Sunday, April 19
*Princeton at Cornell, 12:30 pm [DH]
*Penn at Columbia, 12:30 pm [DH]
*Harvard at Dartmouth, 2:00 pm [DH] [ILDN]

KEY
*-Conference contest; DH-Double Header; ILDN-Streamed on The Ivy League Digital Network