Regionals the next challenge

The Tigers are the third seed in the Amherst Region of the bracket, which includes nationally ranked No. 12 Stanford (46-12), Lehigh (38-15-1) and the Minutewomen (36-11). The Amherst Region is a double-elimination-style regional qualifier for the super regionals. The winners of today’s first-round games will play tomorrow at noon, while the losers will face off at 2:30 p.m. At that point, the two 1-1 teams will play once more for the right to face the 2-0 team. On Sunday, the winner of the 1-1 teams will need to beat the 2-0 team twice to advance to the super regionals.

Eight teams advance to the super-regional round on May 23, where best-of-three series are played to determine which teams advance to the 2008 Women’s College World Series.

Historically, Princeton has had an edge against UMass, having compiled a 10-7 all-time record against the Minutewomen. The two teams, however, haven’t faced off since 2000. The Tigers have also dominated Lehigh with a 28-7 head-to-head advantage. Recent history has evinced the opposite trend, however, as the Mountain Hawks dealt the Tigers a 3-1 defeat on April 22. Princeton is 1-2 versus Stanford.

The Tigers are coming off perhaps the best Ivy League season in school history, dropping just two regular-season games and sweeping Harvard in the championship series.

Both the Tigers and the Minutewomen have four National Fast-Pitch College Association all-region players. Princeton’s potent three-four-five combination of junior shortstop and co-captain Kathryn Welch, sophomore rightfielder Kelsey Quist and sophomore pitcher Jamie Lettire picked up first-team honors, while senior starting pitcher Kristen Schaus received second-team accolades.

All four players also received Ivy League recognition, with each picking up a first-team plaudit. Freshman third baseman Megan Weidrick made the second team, while freshman starting pitcher Michelle Tolfa, freshman designated player Kristin Arguedas, senior catcher and co-captain Beth Dalmut, and sophomore second baseman Collette Abbott all were acknowledged with honorable mentions.