In the history of major league baseball, only 16 pitchers have thrown perfect games — that is, hitless, errorless, runner-less games — and certainly no one's ever done it twice. And though softball is different from baseball, a perfect game is just as impressive — a true display in sport of the dominance of a single individual over his or her opponents.
Just ask Princeton's junior pitcher Brie Galicinao. After throwing a perfect game last season against Penn, Galicinao figured she'd do something very few have done before — pitch another, and do it against the same team. She did just that, throwing a perfect game Saturday against the Quakers and striking out two-thirds of the batters she faced. Princeton won that first game, 5-0, and then won the second, 9-3, to complete the sweep of the doubleheader.
Galicinao came into weekend play leading the Ivies with a 0.79 ERA, and for all those in doubt of her ability, she showed exactly why she is on top of the league. The Quakers spent more time on the bench than on the bases Saturday afternoon, as Galicinao fired pitch after pitch past the Quaker batters. Galicinao finished the game having recorded 21 straight outs, 14 of which were strikeouts. Her ERA fell to 0.70, nearly guaranteeing her the lead among Ivy pitchers at the season's close.
While Penn couldn't help themselves offensively, they hurt themselves defensively, committing three errors in the first game to hand the Tigers the win. The errors began when senior catcher Devon Keefe reached first base on a dropped pop-up in the second. After moving to third on freshman first baseman Kristin Del Calvo's double into centerfield, Keefe scored on a wild pitch. Senior center fielder Lori Volker, who had a field day at the plate, then picked up a run batted in with a single up the middle. Princeton would score three more runs in the fifth inning to secure the win.
Pitching was again strong in the second game, as Bingham, who came in from the outfield to take the mound, continued her recent strong pitching. She pitched four innings, allowing no runs, just two hits, and striking out six. Bingham was then replaced by freshman Kelly Gaydos, who finished the game strong for the Tigers, giving up just three runs and striking out three.
Jumping out to an early lead with one run in the first inning, the Tigers added three more runs in the third inning and five in the fourth. Coming off her stellar pitching in the first game, Galicinao showed why she leads the league in another category — hitting — blasting a two-run home run over the right center field fence.
The story of the afternoon, outside of Galicinao's perfect game, was Volker's 7-for-7, four RBI performance at the plate. Volker, who began the doubleheader batting .271 for the season raised her average to .320 with the performance.
The Tigers then battled out-of-conference St. Peters on Sunday, losing the first game, 1-0, in a classic pitchers' duel that lasted eight innings, but battling back and beating the Peacocks, 4-0, in the second game.
In the last action that 1895 Field will see for the year, the game remained scoreless until the eighth inning when, by rules for an out-of-conference game extended to extra innings, both teams were given a runner at second to begin the inning.
With Galicinao on the mound, the runner on second moved to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield. Sophomore right fielder Jen Neil then made a spectacular diving catch in shallow right field and quickly got to her feet to make the throw, but the Peacocks' runner just crossed home plate as Keefe caught the ball. The Tigers were unable to start a rally in the inning, and the game ended 1-0. Galicinao suffered the loss, but the winning run was unearned so her ERA dropped to a miniscule 0.66.
Pitching again saved the day in the second game, as freshman Wendy Bingham struck out eleven — including eight of the first 10 batters she faced — and limited St. Peter's to no runs on just three hits.
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