After two shutouts against Columbia, softball splits pair with leader Cornell

This weekend the softball team played the way it should have played all season. The Tigers swept Columbia in a doubleheader, posting two shutouts, then split a doubleheader with league leader Cornell. But with only one more Ivy League opponent yet to play — Penn — time has all but run out for Princeton.

Though recent play has been strong, with the Tigers posting a 5-3 record in their last eight Ivy League starts, lack of game experience early in the season has left them struggling to rise from the lower ranks of the league.

.....With just two weekends remaining in the season, the team is out of contention for an Ivy League championship but looks to finish strong and maintain, at least, an above .500 overall record, salvaging a season that could have been more promising.

Saturday's play against Columbia marked the strongest play of the season for the Tigers against an Ivy League opponent. Off of the stellar pitching and hitting of junior pitcher Brie Galicinao, the Tigers won a quick first game, 4-0, then romped the Lions in the second game, 7-0.

Galicinao, who earlier in the season suffered from an ailing back, showed no signs of distress in the first game as she allowed only five hits and no runs. Coming into play with a 6-6 record and leading the Tiger pitchers with an ERA of 0.85, the southpaw Galicinao dominated the Lions, striking out 11 and walking just one.

Galicinao helped her own cause, too, with a first-inning double into centerfield that scored the lead-off hitter, senior outfielder Lori Volker. Volker, who reached first base after being hit by a pitch then moved to second after senior third baseman Lauren Poniatowski's sacrifice bunt.

The Tigers scored three more runs in the sixth on two hits, a walk, a hit batter and an error by Lions' pitcher Allison Buehler. Freshman pitcher Wendy Bingham, a lefthander like Galicinao, was the winning pitcher in the second game, finishing with six strikeouts, no walks, and only three hits in her first complete game. The win, also her first shutout, extended her record to 2-4 on the season.

Galicinao, the pitching star in the first game, changed roles and led the team offensively in the final game of the doubleheade. Finishing 3-for-4 at the plate she recorded one run and four RBI off three doubles smashed into left-center and center field.

Infielder Mackenzie Forsythe and fellow sophomore outfielder Jen Neil, batting at the bottom of the order, also contributed to the offensive surge. Forsythe overcame her season-long offensive woes, going 2-3 with a double and two runs scored, while Neil went 3-3 with a double, one RBI and two runs.

The Lions' loss extended their season-long offensive drought against Ivy League teams — the team has won every Ivy League game in which it has scored, but has been shut out in every one of its nine Ivy losses.

Following these all-around strong performances, the team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., Saturday to play first-place Cornell. The Tigers won the first game, 3-1, but fell to the Big Red in a shortened second game, 12-0.

Galicinao continued her winning ways with another strong pitching performance in the first game, striking out five Cornell batters and allowing five hits. A powerful offensive team, having scored eight or more runs in four of its 10 Ivy League games, Cornell was silenced by Princeton's ace, who pitched a complete game.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers began the scoring in the second inning when a hit by Keefe sailed over the right field fence for a solo home run. Princeton then scored two runs in the sixth inning on RBI singles by Forsythe and freshman infielder Kristin Del Calvo.

The Big Red managed to score one run in the final inning. With a chance to win the game after leadoff hits put runners on first and second, an error scored the runner on second and again put runners on first and second base. With the winning run to the plate, and no outs, Galicinao retired the final three batters to get the win.

The second game marked a turn of fortune for the Tigers, however, as weak pitching and a non-existent offense gave the Big Red a 12-0 win. The star of the second game at Columbia, Bingham, put herself into immediate trouble in the final game, loading the bases and then giving up a grand slam. The Big Red, having gained a 6-0 lead by the fourth inning, then mercilessly doubled its lead with six more runs.

Meanwhile, Cornell's Nicole Zitarelli dominated the Tigers. After giving up two hits to the first three batters of the game, she then retired 14 of the next 16. The game ended in the fifth inning due to the league's mercy rule.

Cornell ended its Ivy League season against Princeton, finishing with an 11-3 record, good for overall control of the league. Both Harvard and Yale, each sporting a 9-3 record, play next weekend. If either team sweeps the doubleheader, it will face Cornell in a playoff match in early May to determine the league's champ and, with it, the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

For the Tigers, now four games behind Cornell, an Ivy League championship is an impossibility. Nonetheless, with an overall record of 15-14, the team can finish above .500 if it can manage to at least split its last 5 doubleheaders.

Princeton will face its last Ivy League opponent — Penn — at home April 28.