Softball: Wins this weekend would steer team back on course

Sweeping the Lions would put the Tigers back on track in their quest to defend last year’s Ivy League title. To do so, however, the Orange and Black will need to find the consistency that it has sorely lacked.

“The team doesn’t lack the want or the will to win,” head coach Trina Salcido said. “But it’s just hard to find that consistency.”

At this point in the season, Princeton has been unable to combine a stellar pitching performance with a good day at the plate. Last weekend, the Tigers’ one win came in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel in which sophomore starter Michelle Tolfa shut out Harvard. The Crimson’s starting pitchers held Princeton’s lineup to only three runs in the doubleheader to earn the split.

The day before, the Tiger hitters had exploded against Dartmouth for 14 runs in two games. Unfortunately for Princeton, its pitchers gave up 25 runs in the two losses. Particularly troublesome for the Tigers was their being outscored by a combined margin of 20-4 in the final four innings of the two games.

Tolfa and junior pitcher Jamie Lettire may find the Lions’ lineup less intimidating. With three hitters hitting over .300 and 12 team home runs, the Big Green put on a clinic last weekend. Columbia, on the other hand, currently has only one player hitting over .300, senior shortstop Keli Leong.

As a team, the Lions have tallied five home runs in 32 games. In comparison, Princeton’s long-ball count stands at 11 despite having played 10 fewer games.

Tolfa has improved in her second year, successfully transitioning into a full starting role. With 16 games remaining, Tolfa has already exceeded her rookie season total of innings pitched while lowering her ERA to 3.59. As a team, however, the Tigers have clearly missed the services of former ace Kristen Schaus ’08, who led the team with 10 wins and 189 strikeouts last spring.

Last week, Columbia finished 1-3 in its two doubleheaders against Yale and Brown. Its lone victory, a 6-5 win over the Bears, highlighted the team’s strengths. Starting pitcher Maggie Johnson — who boasts a 3.33 ERA — threw 6.1 serviceable innings, and Leong went three-for-four at the plate with three runs scored. The Lions’ other two starting pitchers, Erica Clauss and Jessica Razonka, have combined to cede 124 hits in only 102 innings pitched. When asked to evaluate the Lions, Salcido was quick to focus on Johnson as the main obstacle to a Tiger victory.

“Maggie Johnson has been throwing very well,” Salcido said.

Columbia’s pitching staff will be a good litmus test for the Tigers’ lineup. At this point in the season, many of the team’s top hitters have not matched their gaudy statistics from last year. Princeton’s only batter hitting over .300 is senior shortstop and captain Kathryn Welch, who is having an outstanding season and is on pace to win the team’s triple crown. Her .413 batting average, 20 RBI and 17 runs are best on the team.

The stakes in this series are tremendously high. For Princeton to have a realistic shot at taking the South Division and perhaps repeating as Ivy League champion, the Tigers must perform well against Columbia. Cornell’s 6-2 mark in the league will not be insurmountable provided that Princeton remains only a few games back: The two squads face each other in two doubleheaders on April 24 and 26.

Despite an unexceptional start to league play, the Tigers are not panicking. Salcido’s coaching philosophy emphasizes process rather than results, and one rough stretch won’t change that.

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“Right now, our focus is really on us, just try[ing] to sharpen up day to day and stay loose,” Salcido said.

In her first season at the helm, Salcido experienced the highest level of success in the Ivy League. Now that her team has run into rough waters, however, both captain and crew will have to proceed with a steady hand at the tiller.