The softball team will face two tough conference opponents in Cornell and Princeton this weekend as it attempts to snap a 12-game losing streak.
The Bulldogs will attempt to rebound from a doubleheader sweep to Massachusetts on Wednesday, in which the Bulldogs produced two runs total over the two games.
“We hit the ball hard [on Wednesday], we just hit it directly to people,” said designated hitter Lauren Delgadillo ’16. “We didn’t have enough timely hits to help us score runs but we played our hardest … We just need to play our game the way we know how and the runs will come.”
Pitcher Lindsay Efflandt ’17 added that the team is close to putting it all together, and that she has faith the team will reach its full potential.
Yale (3–19, 0–4 Ivy) will play in its home opener at DeWitt Family Field on Friday afternoon against Cornell (8–15, 0–2). While the Bulldogs have faced rough weather conditions early this season, so have their opponents. The Big Red fell to Dartmouth 5–1 and 8–2 in its first weekend of Ivy League play before postponing its doubleheader against Harvard due to rain.
Cornell finished just above Yale in last year’s standings, but the Elis were victorious in their two meetings last year. The Bulldogs defeated the Big Red in extra innings in both games of a doubleheader, winning by scores of 7–2 in 13 innings and 7–5 in nine innings.
Yale will look to replicate its success against Cornell, which currently has a team batting average of .239. The Bulldogs will need to limit first baseman Christina Villalon, who is hitting .308, the team-high among players who have more than 30 at-bats. The Elis will also try to get to Cornell ace Alyson Onyon, who has started nine games and leads the team with a 3.65 earned run average.
Following its contests against Cornell, Yale will face Princeton (7–17, 0–2), which was scheduled to face the same opponents as Cornell last weekend. The Tigers attempted to complete its doubleheader against Harvard, but the first game was suspended in the fourth inning due to weather before both teams decided to postpone the second game. Princeton also fell to Dartmouth last weekend, 1–0 and 4–1.
Last season, the Bulldogs split their season series with the third-place Tigers, losing game one of their doubleheader 6–1 before coming back to win game two in eight innings, 3–2. The Princeton offense is currently led by outfielder Maddie Cousens, who is hitting .321 on the season. The Elis will likely face staff ace pitcher Erica Nori, who has a 2.06 earned run average in 47.2 innings pitched.
Yale has been improving as of late according to multiple players on the team, who say the team’s record and number of hits are not representative of its overall performance.
“We have all the pieces to win games–pitching, defense and offense — we just need to figure out how to bring them all together into seven innings in order to get some wins against solid Cornell and Princeton squads this weekend,” said third baseman Hannah Brennan ’15.
The Bulldogs begin their doubleheader against Cornell at 2 p.m. on Friday and their twinbill against Princeton at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.