Softball: Splits with Brown, Yale feature walk-off wins

The Tigers (10-14 overall, 2-2 Ivy League) captured the first game against Brown (6-9-1, 1-1) in a 5-4 victory, only to fall 8-4 just a few hours later.

The opener started uneventfully, with the exception of one run scored by junior outfielder Nicole Ontiveros in the bottom of the first inning. The next score came in the fourth, when freshman outfielder Austin Sanders gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The Bears mounted a swift comeback, scoring four runs in the next three innings to take a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning.

Brown faltered at the last moment, though, committing two crucial fielding errors to allow the Tigers to score twice in the bottom of the seventh and force an eighth inning.

Brown outfielder Kelsey Williams gave the Tigers a scare when she reached third base with one out, but sophomore pitcher Liza Kuhn retired the next two batters, preventing Williams from scoring. In the bottom of the eighth the Tigers strung together three singles, the last a base hit from Ontiveros to drive home sophomore catcher Sarah Rounsifer with the winning run.

The Tigers seemed poised to capture the next game as well when they took a 3-1 lead early in the third. Things began to unravel in the fifth inning, however, when Brown first baseman Kate Strobel homered to left field with a runner on base. Both Williams and pinch runner Kristin Waterlond later scored on catcher Kristi Munoz’s single to left field, giving the Bears a 5-3 lead.

The sixth inning brought no relief, as Thompson, the league’s home run leader, homered with two runners on base for three more runs to put the game away. Though Ontiveros homered in the final inning, the Bears coasted to an 8-4 victory in the nightcap to split the doubleheader.

The first game against Yale (7-13, 1-3) was even for the first two innings, as strong pitching and fielding from the two teams held both offenses in check.

The Bulldogs erupted at the top of the third, though, scoring seven runs to take a commanding lead.

With the bases loaded, Yale second baseman Katie Yanagisawa advanced on an error that allowed outfielder Tori Balta to score.

Another RBI was followed by a double, giving Yale a 4-0 lead. Finally, third baseman Christy Nelson’s three-run home run broke the Tigers’ back.

The Tigers went two straight innings without a hit and left three runners on base at the end of the fifth. The Bulldogs extinguished any hope for the Tigers by scoring two more runs at the top of the sixth and taking a 9-0 lead.

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The second game was the most exciting of the weekend, coming down to the final at-bat just as Saturday’s opener did.

Princeton struck first, thanks to runs scored by junior third baseman Kelsey VandeBergh and sophomore second baseman Candy Button in the opening frame. Yale got one back in the second to bring the score to 2-1.

Both teams hit a dry spell, remaining scoreless until the Tigers’ offense exploded in the fourth. VandeBergh hit a grand slam, and Rounsifer, sophomore outfielder Lizzy Pierce and freshman shortstop Tory Roberts came home to bring the inning’s total to seven.

Yale responded in kind, scoring seven runs in their next turn at bat to bring the overall score to 9-8. A three-run homer by right fielder Jennifer Ong was the biggest blast of the inning, which featured six hits.

Princeton scored three runs at the bottom of the fifth, but the Bulldogs hung with the Tigers, scoring another two in the sixth and two more at the top of the seventh to even the score at 12 apiece.

The Tigers went into the bottom of the seventh knowing that they needed to score just once to take home the win.

Rounsifer was the first up to bat. Refusing to bow to pressure, she stepped up to the plate and started the inning with a game-winning homer, giving Princeton their second walk-off win of the weekend.

The Tigers are tied for fourth overall in the Ivy League and in sole possession of second place in the South Division behind Cornell, which opened its conference slate 3-1. They have two nonconference home games against Lehigh on Wednesday before continuing their Ivy League season at Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend.