Softball splits weekend road doubleheaders with Yale, Brown

Taking a road trip to New England this weekend to battle against Ivy League foes Brown and Yale, the softball team split both doubleheaders, bringing its Ivy League record to 3-5 and further narrowing its chances for an Ivy League championship.

Friday afternoon the Tigers won the opening game against Yale in New Haven, Conn., 4-1, but lost the second, 6-3. Going into the eighth inning of the first game tied, 1-1, the Tigers broke the inning open with a number of doubles that scored three runs and put Princeton ahead.

Defending a 4-1 lead, junior pitcher Brie Galicinao was able to hold the lead, finishing the game with a total of seven strikeouts. The victory extended her record to 6-5 with an ERA of 0.98.

A lack of scoring and errors plagued the Tigers in the second game of the doubleheader. Princeton was only able to score three runs to Yale's six.

Freshman pitcher Wendy Bingham suffered the loss, giving up six runs on six hits in the outing.

The Tigers split Saturday's doubleheader with Brown in Providence, R.I., winning the first game, 5-2, but dropping the second 5-4.

Coming off of a weak offensive showing in the second game against Yale on Friday, the Tigers came out of the box especially strong, gaining a 4-0 lead by the end of the second inning.

In the first, junior shortstop Kim Veenstra's single scored sophomore outfielder Anna Soper. Advancing to third off a throwing error by the center fielder, Veenstra, who went 3-for-4 in the game, was brought home by an infield single by senior catcher Devon Keefe.

In the second inning, senior center fielder Lori Volker's triple scored sophomore outfielder Jen Neil. Senior thirdbase Lauren Poniatow-ski's sacrifice fly then scored Volker to make the score 4-0.

Junior pitcher Sarah Jane White was able to hold the lead, allowing just one run on five hits in six innings of work.

Freshman Kelly Gaydos came in to pitch the seventh inning, making her debut as a Tiger pitcher and closing out the win for Princeton.

After taking a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning of the second game, the Tigers were unable to hold the lead, losing 5-4.

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The Bears opened up the seventh with a triple to right field. The runner was then driven home by a single down the right field line. With the bases loaded and one out, Brown's Erin Durlesser hit a single into left field off of White to win the game.

The Tigers next play away at Hofstra Thursday in a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. After this pair of out-of-conference games, the Tigers travel to Columbia Saturday for a doubleheader and then up to Ithaca to face Cornell in a doubleheader Sunday.

Though Columbia, who has a 1-5 Ivy League record coming into this weekend, shouldn't pose too many problems for the offensively-talented Tigers, Cornell should be a formidable and particularly significant opponent. If the Tigers hope to contend for an Ivy League Championship, they must defeat league-leader Cornell to make up at least some ground.