Few things are perfect in sports — Don Larsen's pitching in Game Five of the 1956 World Series; Christian Laettner's 10-for-10 shooting against Kentucky in the quarterfinals of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
As rare as perfection is in the sports world at large, it is just as rare in Princeton sports. But a touch of perfection could be found when the softball team travelled to Penn (13-24-1 overall, 2-5 Ivy League) last Friday.
..Sophomore pitcher Brie Galicinao allowed only one ball to leave the infield as she pitched a perfect game through the sixth inning, when the game was called due to the mercy rule.
Galicinao was perfect at the plate, as well, batting 3 for 3 with two runs.
"It was very thrilling, but it depended on my defense, too," Galicinao said. "Every time they made a play it got me excited."
The Tigers (17-19, 6-2) defeated Penn in that second game of a doubleheader, 8-0, after losing to the cellar-dwellers of the Ivy League, 3-1, earlier in the day.
The following day, the Tigers continued their hitting hot streak to overcome a 3-0 deficit to Cornell — the defending Ivy League champion. Princeton slaughtered the Big Red (19-7, 1-2), 16-4, in a game that the umpire ended in the fifth inning as the Tigers again put the mercy rule into effect.
The well of hits dried up, however, in the second game of the doubleheader, and the Tigers lost, 6-1, in an error-filled defensive outing.
"I was a little nervous about the second game after we hit so well in the first game," head coach Cindy Cohen said. "I guess I was right to feel that way."
On a roll
In the first game of the twin bill, the Tigers chewed their way through three Cornell hurlers and sent at least nine batters to the plate in three different innings.
"Coach [Cohen] always says hitting is contagious," Galicinao said. "We kept rallying every inning. We couldn't stop the fun."
The game did not start out fun for Princeton, however, and senior pitcher Sarah Peterman was taken out in the second inning after allowing three runs on four hits — including a two-run homer.
Sophomore hurler Dana Freiser then came in and pitched 3.1 innings of relief, allowing only one hit — a solo homer after the Tiger offense had already built up an 11-3 lead.
"Dana did a really great job, and that combined with our best offensive production of the year to give us this great win," Cohen said.
Over the weekend, the hot bats of two juniors — third baseman Lauren Poniatowski and catcher Devon Keefe — continued to produce for the Tigers.
Poniatowski had nine hits on the weekend, including four in the first Cornell game. She also produced three RBI in that contest alone. Keefe went 3 for 3 during Galicinao's perfect game and added two more hits in the Tigers' butchering of Cornell's pitchers.
While it was offense that got the job done in Princeton's two wins, defensive errors destroyed hopes for a perfect weekend to go along with a perfect game.
Rough start
In the first Penn game, the Tigers led 1-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Two hit batters and an error brought three runs in for the Quakers, giving them their first Ivy win.
"We gave them everything," Cohen said.
In the second game against Cornell, a three-error fourth inning dropped the Tigers from a one-run deficit to a 5-1 hole out of which they could not emerge.
"When we're good, we execute and play very well," Cohen said. "But when we're bad, anyone can beat us."
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