Softball sweeps Fairfield in mid-week doubleheader

When Ernie Banks said, "Let's play two!" he was envisioning a warm and sunny day at Wrigley Field, not a freezing cold and rainy day at Class of 1895 Field.

Nonetheless, the softball team heeded his advice yesterday. The dozen or so plucky fans in attendance were rewarded for their bravery with two thrilling last-at-bat Tiger victories over Fairfield (13-15).

Heading into the top of the fifth in first game, it actually looked like it would be a short day. With a 1-0 lead and the rain pouring down, Princeton (9-9) needed just three outs for the game to become official.

Before the game could be called, however, the Stags exploded for five runs. Luckily for the Tigers, the rain soon halted, giving them a chance to mount a comeback of their own.

Rally they did, cutting the lead to 5-4 heading into the seventh. With one out, three straight singles packed the sacks with Tigers. After a strikeout, freshman third baseman Amanda Erickson patiently drew a walk, forcing in the tying run.

Sophomore catcher Ty Ries then smacked a ground ball up the middle. When the ball just barely snuck under the Stags' shortstop's glove, the Tigers clinched the 6-5 win.

The game had started well for the Tigers, as they managed to push across a run in the bottom of the first. As a light drizzle gradually turned into a full-blown downpour, freshman pitcher Erin Snyder held Fairfield in check. She would finish with 11 strikeouts in seven innings.

The Stags threatened in the third, loading the bases with one out and the heart of the lineup due up. But Snyder whiffed the No. 3 hitter, and senior right fielder Erin Valocsik snagged a deep fly to end the jam.

The wheels came off in the fifth, however. After a leadoff walk and an error, the Stags had runners at the corners. Four consecutive hits then landed just inside the foul line to push Fairfield ahead.

The Tigers fought back in the sixth. After sophomore centerfielder Melissa Finley crushed a leadoff home run, a walk and an error put runners on second and third. A single from Erickson and a double from Ries cut the deficit to 5-3, setting the stage for the seventh.

As the second game began, the sun briefly peaked out from behind the clouds. Princeton got off to a sunny start of its own, as classmates Erickson and Snyder each hit RBI doubles to the wall in the second.

Fairfield rallied in the fourth behind good luck. After an infield single and a dubious fair call on a hit that sliced down the line, back-to-back bloop singles eluded Tiger gloves, knotting the game at two.

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The Stags briefly moved ahead in the fifth after an infield hit and a throwing error by freshman shortstop Christina Cobb-Adams. But Princeton quickly retied the game when Erickson led off the bottom of the inning with a home run just over the left field fence.

As darkness set in, officials decided the sixth would be the final inning. Cobb-Adams redeemed herself with a leadoff double. Two batters later, Snyder blasted a hard line drive to which the third baseman had no chance to react. The ball ricocheted off her glove, allowing Cobb-Adams to scamper home for the 4-3 victory.