No sweep for Tigers this time

The weekend began on a promising note, as Saturday’s games featured timely hitting that carried Princeton to 4-2 and 6-4 victories.

The first game Saturday opened poorly for the Tigers, who surrendered two early runs. Princeton bounced right back, however, when freshman shortstop Kristin Arguedas drove a full-count fastball over the left centerfield wall to even the score at two. In the circle, meanwhile, freshman righthander Michelle Tolfa relieved senior starting pitcher Kristen Schaus and did not allow another Quaker run.

Junior outfielder Erin Miller started the Tigers off with a single in the decisive fifth inning. The Tigers then loaded the bases on a single by junior leftfielder Brianna Moreno and an intentional walk. Sophomore outfielder Kelsey Quist came through with a bases-loaded double that drove in two runs, which was all the run support Tolfa needed.

The afternoon game featured a slightly different storyline. A tight 1-1 game was blown open during another big fifth-inning rally from the Tigers. Walks to freshman third baseman Megan Weidrick and Quist, along with a single from junior designated player Kathryn Welch, set up sophomore starting pitcher Jamie Lettire. Lettire knocked a two-RBI single up the middle, and sophomore infielder Collette Abbott followed up with an RBI single.

Senior catcher and co-captain Beth Dalmut and Miller tacked on RBI singles of their own to cap the five-run frame.

The first Sunday game started off with yet another early Penn rally. This time, however, the Tigers were not able to bounce back. Schaus again struggled to tame the Quaker bats, giving up seven earned runs, as the Tigers were dealt their first Ivy League loss of the season, 7-2. Princeton could not come up in the clutch, leaving eight runners on base.

Displaying impressive resolve, Princeton came out determined in the nightcap of the Sunday doubleheader. Lettire pitched flawlessly over the first five innings, surrendering just two hits. She also helped herself out at the plate with a solo home run over the right centerfield fence in the second frame.

The real offensive onslaught, however, came in the next frame, which started with three consecutive singles. Welch then hit a double that cleared the bases and gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead. After a Lettire RBI single, the Quakers’ ace pitcher, Jessie Lupardus — who had kept the Princeton offense quiet all weekend — was brought in to stem the bleeding.

Miller was not fazed, however, and tallied her second hit of the inning, a two-RBI double. Only a spectacular catch by Quaker centerfielder Keiko Uraguchi on a Moreno fly ball kept the score at 7-0.

Lettire, pitching her second complete game of the weekend after battling the flu all week, only stopped Penn in the top of the seventh after six runs had been pushed across the plate.

“Overall, our team was awesome,” Lettire said. “That’s why you give yourselves a giant comfort zone.”

The weekend was a solid if unexceptional performance for the Tigers, who are not accustomed to dropping games in the Ivy League.

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“As a whole, I thought we were great in moments and sub-par in moments,” head coach Trina Salcido said. “We talk about consistency and I would say that we were not consistent on the weekend.”

Dalmut praised the team’s effort this weekend.

“We showed a lot of heart,” Dalmut said. “There were a lot of times that we could have rolled over, but we didn’t give up. We didn’t play our best, but we played hard, and that is all you can ask for.”