Tigers fall to Lehigh, face UPenn

Coming off of a disappointing 11-inning loss to Lehigh University on Wednesday, the Princeton softball team will head south to Penn this weekend in an important pair of twinbills that will determine Ivy League South division rankings. Princeton (14-19 overall, 6-4 Ivy League) is currently tied for first with Penn (16-16, 7-5) in the Ivy League South division, with both teams coming off of a loss this past week. The games will be played at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdaybefore the competition resumes at2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The game against Lehigh was an incredibly long one, lasting for almost three and a half hours, and opened with the Tigers getting on the board right away, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning after a double from junior first/third baseman Kayla Bose sent two batters in and put Princeton up 2-0. Lehigh pitcher Emily Bausher entered the game with the 19th-best ERA in Division I softball, but by the end of that inning had already exceeded that. Despite the strong start, Lehigh got on the board in the top of the fourth inning after the Tigers retired the Mountain Hawks with the bases loaded in the third inning. The pitching duo of freshman Ashley LaGuardia and sophomore Erica Nori helped the Tigers stay afloat through the fifth and sixth innings, but in the seventh inning a two-run home run from Lehigh’s Jessica Calvini left the Tigers catching up in the bottom of the inning. Eventually, three hits between four batters tied up the game, with junior infielder/outfielder Kate Miller hitting a double and senior infielder/outfielder Rachel Rendina hitting a single before junior catcher/first baseman Cara Worden pinch-hit a double.

The game continued into the eight, ninth and 10thinnings without either team getting on the board, while Nori and Lehigh relief pitcher Christine Campbell kept the score tied at 4-4. The pace picked up in the decisive 11th inning with the Mountain Hawks mounting a rally that scored three runs. Meanwhile, the Tigers were only able to field two of their own runs, including a home run from junior first baseman Emily Viggers and another RBI off of a hit from sophomore catcher Kelsey Smith. Finally, a flyout and strikeout ended the inning with a runner on third base. Miller led the Tigers in batting, going three for four on the day, one of four Tigers with multiple hits and setting a new career high for the junior.

Senior infielder Alyssa Schmidt leads the Tigers with a batting average of .300, followed closely by Rendina and senior first/third baseman Sarah McGowan, each with batting averages of .278, and sophomore outfielder Marissa Reynolds with an average of .276. The Tigers have a team average of .245. The Tiger pitching staff has an average ERA of 3.29, with last week’s Ivy League Pitcher of the Week, junior Shanna Christian, leading the pack with an ERA of 2.62, followed by LaGuardia with an ERA of 3.29.

Penn has two players batting over .400, led by infielder Jurie Joyner at .430, and two more players batting over .300 with another one falling just below there. The Quakers have a team batting average of .287. The Quaker pitching staff has an average ERA of 3.64, led by Mason Spichiger with a 2.62 ERA on 26.2 innings. The Penn pitcher with the most innings pitched, Alexis Borden, has a 3.52 ERA on 109.1 innings pitched.

The Tigers and the Quakers have had some overlap in their seasons so far, with Penn falling 0-10 and 0-3 to Lehigh on March 18. Both teams have also faced off against Dartmouth and Harvard, with Penn splitting the doubleheader against Dartmouth and sweeping Harvard while the Tigers dropped both twinbills two weeks ago.