Softball suffered a rough weekend against its matchup versus Penn, ending the weekend with three consecutive losses. On Friday, Princeton battled back-and-forth with the Quakers, eventually losing 12–11. The Saturday matchups were not quite as close; the Tigers lost 9–2 and 3–2 in the first and second games of the doubleheader, respectively. Reflecting on the weekend, first-year Gianna Mavica said, “Getting swept by Penn obviously wasn't great, but there were some good things going in that series. Although we struggled defensively, offensively we started to string some hits together.”
Softball has endured a tumultuous season marked by inconsistency. The team has an 7–11 Ivy League record, never experiencing a losing or winning streak greater than three. Currently sixth place in the Ivy League standings, the team is out of contention for the Ivy League Championship Series, which will be played between the teams with the two best records.
The Tigers’ best matchup was against Yale in mid-April, when they walked away 3–0 on the weekend. The weekend after, softball went 1–2 with Columbia.
“I think our pitchers carried us in the Yale series. They really figured it out and found a way to exploit Yale's weaknesses,” observed Mavica. “Columbia was an offensive powerhouse that we had trouble keeping up with.”
On the season overall, Mavica noted a general trend. “I think a weakness of this year was putting together our best game. We seemed to have strong defensive games and strong offensive games, but had few completely strong games.” Mavica also spoke to the proximity and close-knit nature of the team, remarking on the strength of the dynamic.
This year may have been a “growth year” for the Tigers. The Tigers will lose three seniors at the end of this season, but the team is bolstered by a strong, rising underclassmen presence. In the latter half of the season, first-year Mackenzie Meyer has shone, currently with seven home runs, the most on the team. First-year Allie Reynolds has also been a crucial presence for the Tigers, leading the team in pitching throughout the season with 125.1 innings pitched.
Softball will finish its season at home this weekend against Cornell. Cornell will be an interesting matchup for the Tigers. Cornell has performed comparably to Princeton, as it also has seven Ivy League wins so far. Cornell is coming off an out-of-conference loss against Syracuse, but a conference win against league competitor Columbia.
“We want to close the season in the best way,” said Mavica. “We want to sweep them.”
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