Softball outslugs Cornell, widens Ivy lead

It was the highest scoring of days; it was the lowest scoring of days. For softball, the weekend was indeed a tale of two cities.

First, in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday, Princeton (18-12-1 overall, 8-1 Ivy League) outslugged Cornell (24-6, 7-3), sweeping the League's best hitting squad, 8-3 and 8-7.

The next day, in New York City, the Tigers could manage only one run over 23 innings of play, splitting a pair of extra-inning 1-0 thrillers with Columbia (15-17, 5-5).

So how to explain the bipolarity?

"It was a pretty unique weekend," sophomore pitcher Melissa Finley said. "I can't really put into words what happened."

The most logical explanation seems to be that the Tigers were simply more focused on scoring runs against the powerful Big Red. Cornell entered the day in second place, just a half game behind Princeton in the league standings.

"We were mentally prepared to score a lot of runs to beat them" junior captain Wendy Bingham said. "Good hitting can be contagious."

The first game against Cornell would turn out to be the only easy victory of the weekend. In the third inning, the Tigers took a lead they would not relinquish. Sophomore second base Kristin Lueke led off with a triple. Finley doubled her home and then scored on an error. Freshman third base Amanda Erickson added a run batted-in.

In the 8-3 win, Snyder allowed just four hits in seven innings, though three were home runs. Princeton countered with three homers of its own — from Finley, Snyder, and senior captain Erin Valocsik. Making the offensive outburst even more impressive was the fact that it came against the League's win leader, Sarah Sterman, who would no-hit Penn the next day.

"We knew she'd try to keep the ball outside, so we waited for our pitches" Finley said.

The second game started off with more fireworks, as freshman shortstop Cristina Cobb-Adams hit a two-run homer in the opening frame. The Tigers broke open a 3-2 game in the fifth, when Snyder smacked a grand slam over the fence in right. Her sacrifice fly in the seventh added an insurance run.

Princeton would need the entire six run cushion, though, as the Big Red put together a gutsy two-out rally. Five hits, including two home runs, cut the lead to 8-7. But Finley finally induced an easy ground ball and escaped with the tough win.

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Saturday, the Tigers couldn't reproduce their success at the plate, even as they received inning after inning of dominating pitching. What resulted was one of the most frustrating days imaginable.

Duel to the death

Game one quickly became a pitchers' duel between a pair of freshman phenoms — Snyder and Columbia's Jackie Adelfio. For 14 incredible innings, the two hurlers matched each other, goose egg for goose egg. Each finished with 13 strikeouts for the day.

Neither tired, perhaps because 1-2-3 innings kept pitch counts low. Mentally, Snyder stayed focused by treating each trip to the mound "like any other inning," she said.

While the Lions barely even threatened — only one base runner had advanced past first — Princeton squandered multiple scoring opportunities. The most promising came in the eighth, when the Tigers loaded the bases with just one out. "We put a lot of runners on base, we just couldn't string together hits," Finley said. "[Adelfio's] ball moved a lot and was tough to see."

Columbia finally broke through in the bottom of the 15th. After a single and a bunt put a runner on second, Monica Thompson doubled off the wall in left to win the game.

"It wasn't very much fun," Snyder said. "I came to bat with a lot of opportunities and didn't come through. It was very disappointing."

The second game began with a déjà vu feeling, as the scoreboard filled with zeroes. This time around, both squads had multiple scoring opportunities, but could not push a run across the plate in regulation. Finley was nearly untouchable, allowing just three hits on the day.

This time, however, only one extra inning would be needed. Sophomore right fielder Nicole Davida led off with a single, and advanced to third on a bunt and a base hit. Finley then stroked a single down the left-field line, scoring Davida. She made the run hold up in the bottom of the frame.

The Tigers' great expectations for the weekend were not entirely fulfilled. Still, they can take comfort in the knowledge that going 3-1 is far closer to the best of times than to the worst of times.