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Tough weekend ahead as Tigers continue Ivy League play

After sweeping a doubleheader against Brown and winning a game earlier this week against Rider, the women’s softball team will face off in twinbills against Ivy League rivals Dartmouth and Harvard. The Tigers (10-13 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) currently lead the Ivy League South Division by a narrow margin, as to be expected only one week into conference play. Dartmouth (10-13, 3-1) currently leads the Ivy League North Division, while Harvard (10-15, 1-3) is currently sitting in third. Both teams have won their last two games. The doubleheaders against Dartmouth and Harvard will start at 2 p.m. on Friday and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, respectively.

The Tiger pitching staff has played well this season, with freshman Ashley LaGuardia leading the team with 64 1/3 innings pitched and a 3.05 ERA. Junior Shanna Christian threw a shutout in the first game against Brown last Saturday and had a 2.78 ERA on 27.2 innings, while senior Meredith Brown threw six shutout innings in the second game, with a 2.41 ERA on 20.1 innings. Sophomore Erica Nori also played four innings against Rider, allowing no runs.

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The Tigers are led in batting by senior infielder Alyssa Schmidt, who has a .298 batting average, followed by junior first baseman Emily Viggers and sophomore infielder Haley Hineman with .286 and .273 batting averages, respectively.

Last weekend, the Big Green swept Columbia on the road after splitting at Penn. Three Dartmouth players have been batting over .300, led by shortstop Katie McEachern at .458, with first baseman Maddie Damore and pitcher/first baseman Kristen Rumley batting .342 and .339, respectively. The Dartmouth pitching staff has also had strong showings this season, with Morgan McCalmon and Rumley both pitching with ERAs of 2.81 and 2.95, respectively.

The Crimson is coming off of a doubleheader sweep of Rhode Island on Tuesday after losing two games against Penn and one against Columbia. Seven Harvard batters have averages above .300, while the team as a whole has a .278 batting average. The Crimson is led by freshman Alexa Altchek at .500, followed by senior Katherine Appelbe at .396, freshman Maddy Kaplan at .377 and senior Katherine Lantz at .358. Senior Andrea Del Conte, freshman Dallas Hogan and sophomore Catherine Callaway bat .338, .333 and .310, respectively. Senior Laura Ricciardone has pitched 60.1 of the team’s innings so far, and has a 3.13 ERA and 5-5 record.

Princeton dropped the doubleheaders against both teams last year and split both the year before, so wins this weekend would mean big things for the Tigers. The last time Princeton won more than two of the four games against these teams was 2008, and a 4-0 weekend on the road would be the first against Dartmouth and Harvard since 1995.

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