With a 2-0 win over No. 3 Stanford on Sunday afternoon, the women's softball team (14-6 overall) improved to 10-5 over its break-long California road trip and capped off a stretch of 15 games in 10 days with its most impressive victory of the season.
The trip began on March 11 with the National Invitational Softball Tournament in San Jose, Calif., where the Tigers went 3-2 over three days. Then, over the next five days, Princeton played in four doubleheaders, compiling a 6-2 record in the process. This past weekend, a pair of Saturday rainouts provided the Tigers with some much-needed rest before they split a Sunday pair against Utah (9-14) and Stanford (19-3).
Despite the overall success of the trip, however, the road stretch opened with a rocky start.
On the first day of the NIST, the Tigers fell to 4-3 on the season with back-to-back losses to Santa Clara (13-14) and UC-Berkeley (23-3). Princeton succumbed to the Broncos in eight innings by a score of 5-4 before being shut out, 3-0, by the No. 2 Golden Bears later that day.
The losses meant that the Tigers would play round-robin games over the final two days of the tournament, rather than having a chance to compete in the championship rounds.
Round-robin dominance
Princeton bounced back quickly, though, outscoring its final three opponents by a combined score of 16-3. On Saturday, freshman pitcher Kristen Schaus registered a career-high 14 strikeouts to earn the decision in a 6-1 win over Northern Iowa (10-7).
"Our freshmen really stepped up," junior third baseman Amanda Erickson said. "I was pleasantly surprised by their performance over break. Kristen [Schaus] did awesome. It's great to know that, through all four classes, we have really good players."
The Tigers finished off their round-robin schedule on Sunday by handing Rhode Island (1-15) an 8-1 loss, having already defeating Connecticut (6-11) earlier in the day by a score of 2-1. Erickson, who is tied with senior centerfielder Melissa Finley for the team lead in runs batted in with 14, contributed a home run to each Sunday victory.
The day after the tournament ended, the team was in Moraga, Calif. for a doubleheader against Saint Mary's (5-18). After taking the opener from the Gaels by a score of 5-1, Princeton rode home runs by Erickson and Finley to a 6-1 win in the second game, resulting in a series sweep. In addition to matching Erickson in run production, Finley leads the Tigers with a .362 batting average, four home runs and 14 runs scored.
A trio of doubleheaders
On Tuesday, Princeton split a pair of games against UC-Davis (5-23). After failing to put together any rallies during a 1-0 loss in the first game of the doubleheader, the Tigers rebounded in the nightcap. Schaus, whose earned run average of 0.81 leads the team, pitched five innings of scoreless ball en route to a 3-1 Princeton win.
From there, the Tigers traveled to San Jose, Calif., which served as the neutral site for their Wednesday doubleheader against Colorado State (19-11). Princeton opened the day with a 6-3 win over the Rams and took advantage of hits by eight different Tigers, including junior shortstop Cristina Cobb-Adams, whose bases-loaded, two-out double in the second inning opened the scoring. The second game resulted in an ugly 6-1 loss, in which Princeton committed three errors and allowed five unearned runs.
After a day of rest, the Princeton Tigers took on the Pacific Tigers (13-11) in Stockton, Calif. and came away with a sweep. Just as the mascots of the two schools are identical, so too were the scores of Princeton's two Friday wins.
Junior pitcher Erin Snyder notched eight strikeouts and allowed just four hits in seven innings to lead her team to a 1-0 win in the opener.
The performance was one of three shutouts and eight complete games that Snyder, the team's leader in wins with seven, has put together on the season. In the second game, a Finley homer and an 11-strikeout performance by Schaus led Princeton to another 1-0 victory.
"Overall, our pitching staff did really great," Cobb-Adams said. "They allow us to hang in most of our games, and when they do well, our defense is better and we hit better, too."
Strong finish
Though Saturday's rainouts meant they would have only one opportunity to play both Utah and Stanford, the Tigers would ultimately benefit from the day off.
After failing to come all the way back from a three-run deficit in a 3-2 loss to the Utes early on Sunday, Princeton used a complete team effort to hand the host Cardinals just their third loss of the season later in the day. Sophomore outfielder Tiffany Wilson scored her first run of the season as a pinch runner, providing Snyder with insurance in the sixth inning of a 2-0 win.
All in all, while only a handful of them actually hail from the Golden State, the Tigers looked right at home making their way through some stiff California competition. The experience and confidence they accumulated over spring break will serve them well as their season continues with a string of 17 doubleheaders over the next month.
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