Softball travels North for two Ivy doubleheaders

It should be a vibrant spring fling this holiday weekend when the softball team, motivated by a seven-game winning streak, will throw on its April brights and take to the road looking to hunt more than just colored eggs.

Although the Tigers (15-10 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) have already claimed two Ivy League victories over Penn, they realize that their claim to the Ivy League title is more tenuous than the country club's claim to the classic garden party. Vying for a title awarded solely from the results of regular season games, Princeton, which won the title last year by a margin of just two games, understands that it must make every contest count.

Coming off of a strong midweek performance against Lehigh and heading into their second and third Ivy League match-ups of the season, the Tigers, in the hunt for two weekend sweeps against Harvard (10-12-1, 0-0) and Dartmouth (5-10-0, 0-0), know that the next few days will be important ones in their quest for the league title.

"Our final goal this season is to win the league," head coach Maureen Barron said. "The way the league is set up, without a tournament, one bad weekend has the chance to ruin our shot at the league title. Since we won the title last year, everybody is gunning for us and is a big competitor."

Princeton, a team that struggled to deliver consistent performances earlier in the year, traveled to Allentown, Pa. to take on the Mountain Hawks last Wednesday and proved that those earlier days of inconstancy have gone with the chilly days and flannel grays of winter. Playing in weather picturesque enough for pastels, seersucker, and tea on the terrace, the Tigers maintained their focus and were able to pull out their third two-game sweep in a row.

"We've talked a lot about remaining intense for all 14 innings of the day," Barron said. "These games were proof that we can do that. We've been working very hard on execution, moving runners across and playing strong throughout the day — we've done a pretty good job of doing that."

Leading the team were junior Melissa Finley — two-time Ivy League Player of the Week — and sophomore Erin Snyder — two-time Ivy League Pitcher of the Week — players whose talent has lately been as conspicuous as linens before Labor Day. In the Tigers' first game, an easy 5-1 win, Snyder gave up only one hit on the mound and had six strikeouts. With the game tied during the fifth, Finley showed her skill as well, hitting a two-run homer, her fourth of the season.

"Melissa and Erin have been doing a great job," Barron said. "They're both pitching really well, hitting really well, and providing great leadership for the team."

In addition, Princeton put on an impressive display of the depth and diverse talent of its roster. With six different players recording hits in the first game, Princeton's batting stats are more impressively varied than a pair of madras shorts.

"There has been excellent play all around," Barron said. "Our recent successes have really been a team effort."

With this series of games behind them, the Tigers will now look to take the experience they have garnered from their seven recent wins and channel it towards their league competition, embodied this weekend by two doubleheaders, first against Dartmouth and then Harvard. Having shown improvement since the start of the season, this weekend's contests will truly demonstrate what sort of dividends Princeton will receive from its collection of non-league wins.

"The experience we have gained this season has been very important," Barron said. "Every out, every inning is a way to just get better. The more bats our hitters have, the more we will improve and become better players."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

While Harvard and Dartmouth have yet to play any league games, Princeton is less worried about the records of its competition and more worried about maintaining the consistency it has found over the past few weeks.

"Right now I believe it's more about us than our opponents," Barron said. "If we play to the level that we can, we should be fine. We don't necessarily have a strategic plan for each team we're facing — it's more about us executing on what we need to do."

With the season's outcome already potentially on the line, the Tigers know that this weekend will be the first real test of their fortunes in the Ivy League. Standing on a solid footing after seven consecutive wins, now is the time to see if Princeton's third-year title hopes will see the springtime sunshine or fall victim to those pesky April showers.