Softball splits against visiting Scarlet Knights

Fresh off of an impressive showing at last weekend's Princeton Invitational, the softball team hoped to translate that momentum into a pair of wins against intrastate rival Rutgers yesterday afternoon at 1895 Field.

But Princeton (9-15 overall), would lose a little bit of that steam, settling for a more modest result — a split with the Scarlet Knights.

The Tigers dropped the front end of the doubleheader, 6-3, in extra innings, before coming back to blank Rutgers, 5-0, in six innings before play gave way to darkness.

"Obviously, we did a nice job coming back in the second game," head coach Cindy Cohen said. "I feel like we're a very capable team who hasn't put it together yet, and that's frustrating."

While the Tigers dominated the second game, receiving strong pitching from sophomore Brie Galicinao and timely hitting, the first contest was a different story.Game one started out as a pitchers' duel, as senior right-hander Sarah Peterman and Rutgers' Leah Black traded strikeout for strikeout.

Freshman second baseman Mackenzie Forsythe's RBI single in the fifth broke the scoreless tie. With one swing of the bat, the Scarlet Knights turned the tide, taking a 2-1 lead on Debbi DeJong's sixth-inning home run.

The Tigers clawed back, getting a run in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at two, but it was all for naught. Rutgers took advantage of a tiring Peterman in the extra frame, plating four runs on four hits — with help from two walks and an error — to put the game out of reach.

Second time's a charm

Princeton would not be fazed by the close loss, though. The lefthander Galicinao hurled six scoreless innings in the second game to propel the Tigers to victory. Freshman catcher Anna Soper provided the offensive spark, crushing a two-run homer over the center field fence in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Tigers' lead to 5-0.

Princeton opened the scoring with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the third, as the Tigers combined a leadoff single, a pair of Scarlet Knight errors and solid baserunning to manufacture the early lead.

The Tigers will barely have a chance to catch their breath, as they head to Amherst, Mass., to take on UMass in a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon before returning to the Garden State for a twin bill against St. Peter's on Sunday.