Softball finds stroke during home openers against Colgate

The Princeton softball team (5-17 overall) can breathe a sigh of relief, having finally winning a game in the month of March. The Tigers claimed their season home opener with two victories over Colgate (3-14 overall) on Saturday, winning the first by a score of 7-4 and the second, 9-6.

Traveling from Austin to Virginia to California, Princeton softball had yet to find its groove prior to the showdown with Colgate. After last year’s construction and 20 consecutive away games to start this season, the Tigers were ready to play in the familiarity and support of their own home, the Class of 1895 Field.

Freshman catcher and third baseman Kaylee Grant said, “It was really exciting to finally play on our home field. Spring break was a really long trip, so it was nice to get two wins on our own field; it’s really comforting to play on the field we practice on.”

The Tigers returned home hungry and improved. Though Princeton did not pick up a win during the San Diego State Invitational over spring break, the team did improve its offense against tough teams. This improvement was on full display against Colgate, as the Tigers accumulated 16 total runs after averaging just over two runs per game to start the season.

As Grant said, “We knew coming back onto the east coast, if we played the same, we would get some wins. We came into this weekend ready to pick up some wins.”

According to plan, Saturday’s first game jumped to a quick start. Even though Colgate started the game with its own run, Princeton replied with four of its own in the bottom of the first. Thanks to Grant’s two-run double, the Orange and Black jumped to a confident 4-1 lead.

The early lead proved crucial, for the two teams would match each other in runs for the remainder of the game. In the process, senior Kayla Bose, freshman Kaylee Grant and freshman Kaitlyn Waslawski each batted in a run.

The second of two games on Saturday started slower for the Tigers - Princeton trailed 0-1 at the bottom of the third. Due to a series of erroneous Raider pitches, sophomore Dani Dockx found the bases loaded when she stepped up to the plate. The Phoenix, Ariz. native then hit a grand slam to give Princeton the lead. The homer, along with three runs in the fourth, proved too much for Colgate.

Despite her performance, Dockx emphasized the role of Princeton’s pitchers this weekend, stating, “I think our pitchers did a really good job of getting in some jabs. Our pitchers got a couple key strikeouts.”

The wins couldn’t have come at a better time for the Tigers as they begin the Ivy League season. Though not obvious to an outsider, Dockx explained that the Colgate game closely resembled a typical conference game. The sophomore said, “It felt representative of the Ivy season. Each of us put a lot of runs on the board, but no one backs down. I think it was really important to put our foot down on the gas.”

The Tigers will face local rival Rider this Wednesday before beginning the highly anticipated Ivy League Season on Friday. Both Grant and Dockx discussed the confidence that this weekend’s games will build for the Tigers. Grant optimistically commented, “I think it builds a lot of confidence heading into Ivies. It was really good to prove to ourselves that we are a strong team.” In concert, Dockx confidently replied, “We’re going to be a tough competitor.”