Follow us on Instagram
Try our daily mini crossword
Play our latest news quiz
Download our new app on iOS/Android!

Tigers’ softball drop to second place in Ivy League South Division

This weekend, the Princeton softball team dropped three of the four games played in two doubleheaders at Penn. The Tigers (15-22 overall, 7-7 Ivy League) are currently ranked second to Penn (19-17 overall, 10-6 Ivy League) in the Ivy League South Division. The two teams went into the weekend tied for first place.

Saturday proved difficult for the Tigers. Penn opened the first game hot, scoring all four of its runs in its shutout of Princeton over the course of the first three innings. The Quakers held the Tigers to just three hits during the game in a strong showing from Penn pitcher Alexis Borden, who retired the first nine batters she faced before she gave up a single to senior infielder/outfielder Rachel Rendina in the fourth inning.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the second game, the Quakers again got on the board early and kept up their momentum, scoring one run in the first inning and two in both the third and fourth innings. The Tigers got on the board in the sixth inning after singles from junior first baseman Emily Viggers and sophomore outfielder Marissa Reynolds allowed sophomore catcher Haley Hineman to drive home a run on a failed fielder’s choice. The Tigers had eight hits, close to the nine Quaker hits during the game.

Sunday saw the Tigers split the twin bill, falling in the first game before rallying to clinch a win in the second. The first game saw both teams get on the board with one run each in the first inning before the Tigers scored again in the top of the second. The first run came off of a home run from senior infielder Alyssa Schmidt before a single from Viggers followed by a sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop/second baseman Danielle Dockx gave the Tigers a second run. The Tigers held onto their lead until the sixth inning, when Penn rallied off of three walks, a hit batter and a two-run single to put the Quakers up 4-2 and win the game. Junior pitcher Shanna Christian retired 12 out of 13 batters between the second and fifth innings of the first game in an impressive showing but Borden allowed only one runner to reach second base in the last five innings of the game.

The second game of the day saw the Tigers rally after a Viggers double that gave the Tigers an RBI and a Schmidt three-run home run put the score at 5-4 with the Quakers up by one after the fifth inning. The Tigers went on to score two more runs in the top of the sixth after a dropped fly ball gave the Tigers two more runs and Princeton furthered the lead in the seventh inning with another run off of a Viggers single. Viggers, Schmidt and junior catcher/first baseman Cara Worden each had three hits on Sunday, with Schmidt also recoding four RBIs and nine bases, eight of which came from home runs in both games.

Despite falling into second place in the League, the Tigers are within reach of the top, only two games behind the Quakers. The Tigers will have opportunities to pull even in a home doubleheader against Yale on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and against Cornell next weekend in Ithaca.

ADVERTISEMENT