"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure," former Vice President Dan Quayle once sagaciously said, which could well sum up the weekend for the softball team, whose lack of success has doomed their chances of a third-straight Ivy League title.
Princeton (20-19 overall, 6-6 Ivy League) was swept by Cornell (31-11, 10-4) at 1895 field by scores of 7-1 and 4-1 on Saturday before its doubleheader against Columbia (21-24, 6-6) on Sunday was postponed because of rain.
The Tigers entered the weekend in third place in the Ivy League, but still in contention for the title. The pair of losses to Cornell, however, dropped the Tigers to fifth, and mathematically eliminated them from contention.
"We knew we needed to win all of our games this weekend," sophomore shortstop Cristina Cobb-Adams said, "and we just didn't get the job done."
Cornell stands in first in the Ivies and can now only be caught by an 8-4 Brown sqaud.
The Tigers' losses were especially hard since both the teams ahead of them in the standings entering the weekend — Harvard and Yale — lost two games apiece. So if the Tigers had succeeded in vanquishing the Big Red, they would have been in first, and about to clinch a third-straight Ivy League title.
Despite the score, the first game on Saturday was quite competitive, with both Princeton and Cornell scoring only one run in regulation. Then, the Big Red broke out for six runs in the 12th inning.
Cornell started off the scoring in the top of the first, when shortstop Lauren May hit a two-out triple against sophomore ace Erin Snyder. Cornell catcher Melissa Heintz then drove May in with a single to center.
The Tigers quickly responded, however, evening up the score in the bottom of the second. Sophomore third baseman Amanda Erickson singled and freshman speedster Tiffany Wilson pinch ran for her. Wilson advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cobb-Adams and to third on a Snyder single. Junior catcher Ty Ries then drove Wilson in on a sacrifice fly.
The game settled into a pitchers' duel between Snyder and Cornell's Sarah Sterman. Snyder struck out seven in the game while Sterman struck out five.
The Big Red threatened in the top of the seventh when first baseman Erin Murtha singled, and left fielder Melissa Cannon attempted to score from second. Junior center fielder Melissa Finley, however, gunned down Cannon with her cannon of an arm, throwing a perfect strike to Ries, who applied the tag.
As the Tigers failed to score in the bottom of the inning, the game went into extras, where it remained scoreless until the top of the 12th.
In the 12th, the steadfast dam that was the Princeton pitching staff broke, and the torrential Big Red offense flooded through. Sparked by home runs from Heintz and center fielder Caitlyn Varde, Cornell scored three runs off Snyder to drive her from the mound and then three more off her replacement, freshman Amelia Runyan.
Snyder took the loss, dropping her to 9-11 on the season, while Sterman improved to 15-4.
The Big Red offensive deluge continued in the second game against Finley, who only lasted two-plus innings and fell to 5-7.
In the top of the first, May doubled and Heintz hit her second homer of the day to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead.
Cornell continued to hit home runs, as Cannon hit a solo shot in the second and Varde hit her second of the day in the third, chasing Finley from the mound.
Although Finley's replacement, freshman Calli Varner gave up no runs in five innings with five strikeouts, the damage had been done.
The Tigers' only run of the day came in the bottom of the fourth, when senior left fielder Wendy Bingham singled to start the inning. Freshman right fielder Stephanie Steel also singled, moving Bingham to third. Bingham then scored on an infield single by Cobb-Adams, as May's throw home was not in time.
Columbia was leading its first game against Princeton, 2-1, when it was called after four innings. The games will be made up at Princeton on Saturday, May 1.
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow at Saint Joseph's before heading to Villanova on Thursday.
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