It was the bottom of the seventh inning. The bases were loaded with two outs. The softball team was down by two runs in the championship game of the Princeton Invitational. One of the team's best hitters was at bat. It looked as though Princeton's troubles from the previous week might be ending.
But, following an inning of batting heroics that had placed the Tigers in that position, sophomore pitcher Brie Galicinao was retired on a called third strike to end the game. Princeton lost to Boston College, 6-4, and came out with a 3-1 record on the weekend.
"We're getting better, but I'm not satisfied with just winning three out of the four games," head coach Cindy Cohen said. "I wanted to win all four."
Earlier that morning, Princeton (8-14) defeated Temple (8-17), 2-0, as senior pitcher Sarah Peterman threw a two-hitter.
Saturday, the Tigers took both games, surviving a late scare by Fairfield to emerge victorious, 3-2, in the early game. Princeton then defeated the Eagles, 1-0, in a pitchers' duel.
Rematch
In the championship game against Boston College (3-8), Princeton entered the bottom of the seventh down, 6-3. When Galicinao, who gave up five runs — only two of them earned — on nine hits, stepped up to the plate, the Tigers were hanging in the game by their fingernails.
Princeton had not scored since the third inning. The final inning began looking much like the previous three, with freshman second baseman Mackenzie Forsythe hitting a line drive to second base for a quick out.
Junior centerfielder Lori Volker then stepped up to the plate and was walked, keying the Tiger rally. Volker advanced to second base on a ground out by sophomore shortstop Kim Veenstra, leaving Princeton down three with two outs and only one runner in scoring position.
Then junior third baseman Lauren Poniatowski stepped up — the first of four consecutive Tiger batters that would have to fight off potential last strikes. Poniatowski, with two strikes on her, fouled off four consecutive pitches before hitting a double to center field that scored Volker, bringing the score to 6-4.
Junior catcher Vicki Siesta was walked on a full count, putting the tying run on base. Then sophomore first baseman Sarah Jane White ran the count up to 3 and 2 and fouled off several pitches until she was walked, loading the bases.
Galicinao came to the plate hoping to add another RBI after having hit a two-RBI double in the first inning. Galicinao worked the count to 3 and 2, and a pickoff attempt of White failed. Boston College pitcher Kimberly Ryan finally was able to get the third strike and the game ended.
"Our biggest problem was not hitting the first pitcher, since she's one of their weaker pitchers," Poni-atowski, who had two hits, said. "When we finally started getting on base, it was too little, too late."
The Tigers were also hurt by four errors in the early innings. With Princeton leading, 2-1, the Tiger defense fell apart in middle innings.
"Some of those [errors] were routine balls that we have to field," Cohen said. "We're capable of it but we just didn't do it today."
In the first Boston College game, Galicinao not only knocked in the winning run in the fourth inning but also pitched a complete game two-hitter, at one point retiring 14 straight batters. The Tiger defense, unlike the following day, had a strong performance.
"I was really confident in my defense," Galicinao said. "They made some great plays."
Princeton had several chances to score more runs, particularly in the fourth inning, which produced the lone run. The Tigers had the bases loaded with no outs, but were unable to produce enough offense to bring in more than one run.
In Princeton's first game of the tournament, it uncharacteristically jumped to an early 3-0 lead over Fairfield. Veenstra scored on a balk in the third inning, and White hit a two-RBI double in the fourth.
The game tightened again in the sixth inning. Fairfield (7-11) put two runners on base with no outs, and a double by shortstop Cristen Clark brought the score to 3-2. Clark then advanced to third base on a dropped throw by Galicinao at first base.
A force-out on a bunt ended the inning when Fairfield catcher Katie Caputi didn't run, thinking the ball had fallen foul.
"That inning wasn't pretty," Peterman said. "But we were confident in our ability to get the last out and we did."
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