Softball tops Penn to stay atop Ivy League South

The Princeton softball team (14-22 overall, 7-5 Ivy) split their first doubleheader against Penn before defeating the Quakers (15-19 overall, 3-9 Ivy) in two matches during their second meeting this past weekend, remaining atop the Ivy League South division.

The Tigers found themselves matched against a strong opponent in the Quakers, with Princeton’s two runs in the first being easily matched by a pair of Penn runs in the top of the second. From there, both squads remained neck and neck — Penn built a three-run lead by the end of the second inning, but senior catcher Skye Jerpbak hammered in a two-run homer to make the score 5-4 by the end of the second. The Tigers would charge ahead with another two-run play from freshman outfielder Kaitlyn Waslawski, but the Quakers evened the score at 6-6 by the top of the seventh. With only the bottom of the seventh to go, senior first baseman Kayla Bose drove a shot to centerfield that brought sophomore second baseman Daniel Dockx in for a final run to give Princeton a 7-6 victory.

However, the Quakers took the second game on the strength of their pitching. Penn senior Lauren Li successfully stranded six Princeton scoring attempts and ultimately left the Tigers scoreless over the game, while Penn knocked in two runs in the second and an additional pair of scores in the fourth to secure a 4-0 win in the second game. Nevertheless, the day’s 1-1 result left Princeton still ahead of both Penn and Columbia in the Ivy South as they prepared to face the Quakers again on Sunday.

In the second doubleheader, the Tigers’ third matchup against Penn proved as close as their first. After the Quakers opened up scoring with two runs in the top of the second, Jerpbak tallied two scores for the Tigers to tie the game. However, Penn responded with unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 4-2 lead. Princeton would not falter, however, with freshman outfielder Mikayla Blaska driving two runners in at the bottom of the sixth to tie the score. Penn failed to respond at the top of the seventh, and Princeton once again made good on their last scoring opportunity of the day when freshman first baseman Keeley Walsh drove Waslawski home with a single that gave the Tigers a 5-4 win.

In Princeton’s final match of the weekend, the Tigers retaliated against Lauren Li’s shutout of them in Saturday’s game, dishing out four consecutive hits and jumping to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first. The Quakers switched to reliever Alexis Sargent, but she also proved ineffective against Princeton’s attack. Sophomore outfielder Kylee Pierce notched a two-run double to increase the Tigers’ lead to 5, and Princeton opened it up even further in the second. Freshman third baseman Kaylee Grant hit a single to drive a sixth run home, and Dockx smashed a three-run homer that gave the Tigers a 9-0 lead. Penn managed four runs of their own in the ensuing innings, but it all proved too little and too late. After a final score in the sixth from Grant, Princeton walked away with a 10-4 victory to close out the weekend.

The 3-1 record against Penn puts the Tigers firmly in the lead in their Ivy South conference; they remain three games ahead of the second-place Quakers. Princeton will face Lehigh University next in a doubleheader slated for this 3:00 p.m. this Wednesday.