Softball Headed for a One-Game Playoff vs. Cornell

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PHILADELPHIA - On Friday and Saturday, softball took all four games in the series with Columbia, putting Cornell in a must-win situation to keep its season alive. On Sunday, the Big Red took both games of their doubleheader, sweeping the four-game series against Princeton, to force a one-game divisional playoff for the South Division crown. The one-game playoff will be hosted by Penn since the Quakers took three out of four games against Cornell earlier this season.

The playoff game between Cornell and Penn will be played Friday, Saturday or Sunday of this upcoming week (May 4-6). With the one-game tiebreak going into what was originally scheduled to be the weekend of the Ivy League Championship Series, the best-of-three series has been pushed back to Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12. This will be the first time in League history that a one-game playoff has been needed to determine a division champion since the inception of divisional play in 2007.

Princeton gave Cornell all it could handle and more this weekend, including a 14-inning game on Saturday and 10-inning game on Sunday, but Cornell prevailed each time. During the regular season series with Cornell and Penn, the Quakers took each of the first three games in the series, but the Big Red avoided the sweep with a victory in the fourth game of that series.

A win in the playoff against Cornell would send the Quakers back to the Ivy League Championship Series for the first time since 2007, when they played in the first championship series. The Ivy League Championship series will be hosted by Harvard, who finished with the best Ivy League record amongst both divisions.

Stay tuned to PennAthletics.com for updated game times and additional postseason information as it becomes available through the Ivy League office.