Rust shows as season commences

“We didn’t hit the ball as well as we needed to,” head coach Trina Salcido said. “We just weren’t as sharp on Sunday as we needed to be.”

The Tigers started strong on Friday in a nail-biter against Niagara (2-5) with a 6-5 triumph. Princeton built up a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but Niagara immediately responded with three runs of its own in the top of the third. It came down to the final out in the seventh inning, and the Tigers had two runners on base. Junior infielder Kathryn Welch and sophomore pitcher Jamie Lettire singled to even the score at five and take the game to an extra inning. Princeton held Niagara scoreless, and senior infielder and captain Beth Dalmut managed to send base runner sophomore infielder Collette Abbott home to take the 6-5 victory.

“It’s important for a team — especially as young as we are — to prove ourselves and test ourselves in pressure situations,” senior pitcher Kristen Schaus said. “So many different people came up with big hits, so it was exciting to see the team as a whole contribute and is definitely representative of our potential.”

The Tigers notched 12 hits collectively, compared to Niagara’s eight. Schaus gave up four hits and three runs but ultimately got the win.

On Saturday, revenge-minded Niagara battled Princeton in another tight matchup, ending in a 7-6 Princeton loss. The Tigers were up 6-4 in the top of the sixth, but the Purple Eagles answered with a run in their next at-bat and scored two more due to a Tiger error and two passed balls in the bottom of the seventh. The game was not without its highlights, however, as sophomore outfielder Kelsey Quist hit the Tigers’ first home run of the season, and Schaus struck out 13 batters.

“We definitely did come out aggressive on both Friday and Saturday,” Salcido said. “We came out aggressive with the bats — swinging and scoring a lot of runs. We saw a lot of great things on the offensive side.”

By Sunday, Princeton seemed to have run out of offensive steam, scoring only one run in two games. Against Quinnipiac (4-4), the Tigers never got a runner past third base in their 2-0 loss. Quinnipiac scored two runs in the top of the first, and neither team could score for the rest of the game. Princeton outhit Quinnipiac five to four but could not convert the hits into runs. Lettire (0-1) took the loss.

“It’s one thing to come out for a Friday and Saturday game,” Salcido said. “But on Sunday, when you’ve already played two or three games, maybe you’re a little sore, a little tired, but you’ve still got to play up and still have to have intensity.”

The Tigers failed to channel much intensity against George Mason (2-7) in their last game of the tournament, as they lost 5-1.

“[George Mason is] a large team,” Salcido said. “They have lots of options and huge bullpen, and I know they used their best pitcher against us … at the same time, we should have been able to adjust.”

Princeton got half of its total hits and its only run in a last-ditch effort in the top of the seventh, but the attempt was too little too late. Dalmut gave a solid performance with two of the team’s six hits. Schaus took the loss but ended the weekend with 686 career strikeouts — second on Princeton’s all-time list to Erin Snyder ’06.

Looking ahead to next weekend’s road trip to North Carolina, Salcido hopes to maintain team focus throughout the weekend and improve defensive play.

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

“[We could be] maybe a little sharper on defense,” Salcido said. “Our defense was surprisingly stale, and [we were] playing on our heels. This week we’re going to concentrate a lot on sharpening up the infield.”

Though the Tigers did not get the end results they were looking for, they will have plenty of chances to learn from their mistakes in the coming games.