Struggling Brown is first Ivy foe

It's a good thing the spring season is a marathon and not a sprint, because in the short run, the Princeton softball team would be out of contention already. Coming off a slow start and two tough losses to Rutgers on Wednesday night, this weekend the Tigers will be looking to take out their frustration on their first two Ivy League opponents of the season, Brown and Yale.

The Tigers (9-18 overall) open their weekend play against Brown on Saturday, with games at noon and 2 p.m. in Providence, R.I. This will be the first Ivy League conference game for the Bears (6-10) as well.

Over the course of the past week they've traveled through California, taking on six West Coast teams. Brown will head into the weekend doubleheader on an eight-game losing streak, giving it a lack of momentum on which the Tigers should look to capitalize.

The Bears' statistics have declined precipitously after a rough swing through the West Coast. The player with the highest batting average is junior catcher Amy Baxter, hitting a relatively low .282 with two home runs. Following right behind her is senior outfielder Liz Anderson, who is currently batting .259.

Opponents have nearly as good a batting average against the Bears as their second-best batter has achieved, at .251.

Needless to say, their pitching has struggled of late, with their most relied-upon pitcher, sophomore Michelle Moses, maintaining a 2-5 record with a 2.58 ERA. Fellow sophomore pitcher Kelsey Wilson has pitched fewer games but has fared somewhat better at 2-2 and a 1.55 ERA.

Tiger team batting leaders, sophomore outfielders Erin Miller and Brianna Moreno, who have hit their way to .368 and .342 batting averages respectively, will look to keep Brown's morale down with their quick bats.

Sophomore infielder Kathryn Welch should also look to add to her team-leading 15 RBI, as the statistics show that the Brown pitchers will be likely to give up several runs in each game.

"My game involves just putting the ball in play and seeing what happens," Moreno said. "I just try to get on base and set the table for the solid hitters coming up after me."

In the second matchup of the weekend on Sunday, the Tigers will take on a strong, young Yale team in another doubleheader in New Haven, Conn. The Bulldogs (13-3) have taken the teams they have faced so far by storm, traveling to Florida over their spring break and winning 10 out of 12 games.

They have three girls on the team with batting averages over .400; sophomore catcher Katie Edwards leads the way at a stunning .500.

Just barely behind her is junior shortstop Aracelis Torres, who is batting .479 with a team-leading 18 RBI on top of a .729 slugging percentage.

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At the plate, the Bulldogs make for fierce competition, and junior pitcher Kris Schaus will have to be wary at every point in the lineup. The top of the order is loaded with power hitters while the bottom part is filled with speedsters like freshman outfielder Ashley Sloan, who has stolen 11 bases on 13 attempts.

Sophomore pitcher Rebecca Wojciak has been solid on the mound with a 5-0 record and a 1.50 ERA. Yale's three most-used starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.18 as compared to the Tigers' team ERA of 4.55. This difference in the ability to get hitters out and avoid having runners on base might become the key factor in Sunday's games unless Princeton can step up its level of play.

The two teams Yale and Princeton have played in common this year are Central Connecticut State University and Fairfield University. The Tigers and Bulldogs defeated both teams from Connecticut handily in their respective games against them.

The Tigers have a great chance of winning both doubleheaders this weekend if they can get their bats moving against a strong Brown defense and maintain confidence on the mound in front of a fearless Yale offense.

"Although losing can get a bit discouraging, our team has so much talent, heart, and dedication," Moreno said. "I know we will find a way to put everything together this weekend with the start of Ivy play."