Softball: Tigers go 2-2, now second in division

It was a weekend of ups and downs for the softball team, which split doubleheaders with Harvard and Dartmouth and now sits at second in the South Division of the Ivy League. The Tigers (20-11 overall, 5-3 Ivy League) put up 13 combined runs in their two wins but allowed 15 combined in their two losses.

Princeton started the weekend well, getting a complete game from senior starter Alex Peyton, who allowed one earned run and fanned five. The Tigers got on the board first in the fourth inning, when freshman first baseman Emily Viggers drove in a run with a sac fly and sophomore second baseman Rachel Rendina followed with an RBI single. Princeton added two more later in the game, and Harvard could muster nothing more than a run on consecutive doubles in the sixth inning.

It was the Crimson (11-17, 4-4) that jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the nightcap, but senior outfielder Candy Button brought the Tigers within two with a two-run double in the top of the fourth. In the bottom half of the frame, however, the wheels came off for Princeton. Harvard loaded the bases on a single, a walk and an error and scored six runs off senior starter Liza Kuhn, who left after two outs in the fourth. Freshman reliever Shanna Christian allowed six more — three earned — over the remainder of the game while her offense added only one more run, falling to Harvard 11-3.

Peyton took the mound again in the first game on Sunday, but this time the 4-1 decision went the other way. She went the distance again, allowing only one earned run while striking out nine, but Dartmouth (14-16, 4-4) took advantage of two Princeton errors in the bottom of the sixth and plated three runners to break the 1-1 tie and win the first game.

The Tigers had seven hits but only capitalized once. After junior outfielder Maddie Cousens singled and advanced to third on a sac bunt and ground ball, senior third baseman Nikki Chu brought her home with a single up the middle.

After committing five errors in two games, Princeton played mistake-free ball in the weekend’s finale and began hitting again. Seven players recorded hits against three different Big Green pitchers. Rendina, the Tigers’ leadoff hitter, went three for five, driving in two, and Chu homered with two outs in the fifth to bring in Peyton and give Princeton a 6-3 lead.

Dartmouth did not go quietly, getting seven runs off of Christian, who threw a complete game and struck out six, but the Big Green never led after the Tigers’ four-run second inning, in which Rendina drove in two.

The game ended 9-7, with Dartmouth rallying for two runs in the seventh. Katie McEachern hit a two-run blast with no outs for the Big Green, and a comeback seemed possible, if not imminent, but Christian settled down and retired the next three hitters to end the game and earn her sixth win of the season.

The Tigers will face Rutgers on Thursday night before a four-game weekend series against Penn in Philadelphia that could make or break their season. The Quakers (17-13, 7-1) have the best record in the Ancient Eight and are in the same division as the Tigers, meaning that only one of the teams can make it to the Ivy championship series.