Softball steals two victories from Yale, splits games against Brown

The Princeton softball team (11-21 overall, 4-4 Ivy League) enjoyed a successful weekend, sweeping two contests against Yale before splitting its doubleheader against Brown. The wins keep Princeton in the lead in the South Division of the Ivy League and well in contention for the conference title as the season continues.

Princeton took two close games against the Bulldogs, pulling a 6-5 win in the first game's 10 innings and then following with a 5-4 nail-biter to close out the matchup. The Tigers opened their first game of the weekend strong, exploding with three runs in the first inning to take a significant lead, although Yale retaliated with four runs in the bottom of the first to come back on top, 4-3. Princeton pulled ahead again with two runs to make it 5-4 at the top of the fifth, but a Yale score in the bottom of the sixth tied the game again until well into the tenth inning. Then, freshman Keeley Walsh took a go-ahead RBI single, and Princeton held on to pull off a 6-5 victory.

The second game also ended up a close contest, with Yale building a 4-1 lead through the fourth before Princeton scored three runs in the fifth to tie the game at four. Play was suspended on the day, due to darkness, but the score remained tied for three more innings when the game resumed on Saturday. Ultimately, senior catcher Skye Jerpbak hit a run in the eighth and Princeton moved to 2-0 with a 5-4 win.

Commenting on the significance of the team’s victories over the Bulldogs, sophomore shortstop Dani Dockx remarked, “I think it was really big for us to get those close games in our favor. It just set the expectations for us that much higher. Everyone stepped up. We came out with a lot of energy.”

In the next contest against Brown, Princeton fell hard in the first game — giving up three runs by the second inning and falling behind 7-0 by the conclusion of the third inning. The Bears held on to their lead, adding two by the sixth to force a conclusion to the game by the run rule. However, the Tigers were not stymied by the loss; Dockx reflected that it presented the team with an important opportunity to re-evaluate their play.

“I think we just all needed to realize that we needed to be more aggressive,” she noted. “There is no reason that we can’t beat every single team in the Ivy League. We can compete with anyone out there. As long as we trust each other.”

Princeton lived true to Dockx’s words in its final game of the weekend. After a scoreless first three innings, the Tigers drove in three runs in the fourth. Brown cut the lead to 3-1 in the fifth, but sophomore pitcher Ashley La Guardia allowed no further scores and Princeton walked off with a 3-1 win to finish their weekend on a high note.

The weekend leaves the Tigers at 4-4 in the league and still atop their conference. Evaluating their performances, Dockx concluded, “We’re really positive and feeling pretty good about where we stand right now… I think [our] strength is that we’ve been able to answer back and move on from our mistakes. There’s a different mentality that everyone needs to step up. We need to put the pieces together and then we’ll be really hard to stop.”