When junior pitcher Erin Snyder stepped onto the mound at Class of 1895 Field on Sunday afternoon to face Dartmouth, no one in the stands — or even in her own dugout — would have thought that she would be able to improve upon her virtuoso performance in her previous day's outing against Harvard, when she struck out a staggering 21 Crimson batters. And indeed, Snyder would end the day with an only slightly less impressive 16 strikeouts.
But she also left the field with an even more impressive accomplishment under her belt: a perfect game, the third of her career.
Snyder also delivered with her bat in game two against the Big Green, driving in the run that forced the contest into extra innings. Princeton struck again in the first extra frame, giving the Tigers (28-13-0 overall, 8-2-0 Ivy League) a thrilling 4-3 victory and a sweep of Dartmouth (8-16-1, 5-6-0) the day after they split a doubleheader with Harvard.
21 not enough
Despite Snyder's 21-strikeout performance in the first game against Harvard (11-6-1, 4-2-0), the game's outcome would not go in the Tigers' favor. Princeton fell, 1-0, when Crimson designated hitter Beth Sabin hit a home run to break a scoreless tie in the top of the 10th inning. It was only the third hit Snyder gave up to the Crimson, but it was enough, as Princeton was unable to muster the offensive strength to score even one run.
In the second game against the Crimson on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers rallied back in fine style as freshman hurler Kristen Schaus recorded her fifth shutout of the season. Princeton's bats bounced back, banging out 12 hits in just four innings en route to 9-0 mercy-rule win.
Junior third baseman Amanda Erickson went three-for-three to lead the way. Her first hit of the game was a single in the first inning that sailed past the third baseman, allowing senior outfielder Melissa Finley to score and give Princeton its first run of the day.
Freshman Beth Dalmut smashed her third home run of the season — the team's 31st, which is second in team history behind the 2002 squad (36).
Third time's the charm
The real highlight came against Dartmouth on Sunday, when Snyder pitched her third career perfect game as the Tigers won 5-0.
The Tigers' got on the board in the first inning, after junior shortstop Christina Cobb-Adams led off the inning with a double and advanced to third. Dartmouth pitcher Karin Edwardson then threw a wild pitch, allowing Cobb-Adams to score.
In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore outfielder Stephanie Steel ran in from first base after senior catcher Ty Ries doubled, giving Princeton a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Erickson brought in two more runs with a double, and Snyder brought in Erickson with another double to put Princeton up 5-0.
Snyder took down 16 batters in her perfecto, giving her a total weekend count of 37 batters fanned. Her earned run average is a mere 0.72 — the best ERA in the Ivy League. Snyder is the only player in Tiger history to have two perfect games in one season.
Joy ride
The second game against Dartmouth was a thrill ride until the very end. Schaus started and hurled a no-hitter until the fourth inning, when Dartmouth shortstop Kerry Conway hit a long solo home run to straight away centerfield, breaking up the no-hitter and the shutout.
Princeton tied it up in the bottom half of the fourth when Snyder sent a liner up the middle, and Finley was able to squeeze past the throw to the catcher to tie the game up at one.
Dartmouth took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning when designated hitter Kelly Fry hit a two-run homer.
Princeton reknotted it in the bottom of the sixth. Finley started things off with a double that skipped right by the shortstop, and Erickson reached base on a throwing error by the Big Green's third baseman. Snyder placed a hit deep to rightfield to bring both of them in and tie the game.
Finley led off the extra inning with a hard-hit ground-rule double over the leftfield wall. Smart softball led to the win: Erickson followed up with a well-placed sac bunt, and her heads-up base running on a wild pitch gave the Tigers the 4-3 win and the sweep of Dartmouth.
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