Softball: 5-2 victory ends 7-game skid

The score was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning in Tuesday’s nightcap after sophomore pitcher Alex Peyton had kept the Lions hitless for the previous three innings.

Freshman outfielder Austin Sanders sparked the eventual game-winning rally, surprising the Lions infield with a leadoff bunt single. Junior third baseman Kelsey VandeBergh later scored the winning run due to a throwing error by Lions catcher Anne Marie Skylis. The Tigers added two more runs in the sixth frame, more than enough for Peyton, who only needed seven pitches to retire the final three Lions.

The win snapped a season-high seven-game losing streak, which started on April 15. All seven of the losses were division games, dropping the Tigers from an even 4-4 Ivy League South record to a disappointing 5-11.

As has been typical this season, inclement weather forced Saturday’s doubleheader to be rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Sunday’s doubleheader, which was played as scheduled, started out well for the Tigers, as they leapt out to an early 3-0 lead. Two innings filled with fielding miscues eventually doomed the hosts, as Columbia took advantage of its opponent’s five total errors and scored five runs, securing the 5-3 victory.

Columbia’s pitching was the clear highlight of the weekend. After Columbia pitcher Prophet Gaspard only allowed five hits in the first game of the doubleheader, teammate Maggie Johnson did her one better. Johnson threw a complete-game no-hitter, walking only two batters.

It was the first time this season the Tigers’ offense was stymied to that extent. Peyton yielded only two runs in another strong pitching performance, but the Tigers’ inability to produce offensively ultimately led to a 2-0 loss.

In the middle of what was then a six-game losing streak, Princeton returned to the Class of 1895 Field on Tuesday to finish its season series against the Lions. The game appeared to be another pitching duel, but the Lions’ offense broke it open with a seven-run two-out rally in the top of the fourth frame.

The Tigers answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth before another appearance by Johnson stopped any comeback effort. But the hosts avenged the 7-5 loss with a victory in the nightcap, scoring three runs off Johnson to salvage a split of the day’s doubleheader.

The Tigers, now last in the South Division, are no longer capable of advancing to the Ivy League Softball Championship Series. Regardless of what happens in the remaining two doubleheaders against current division leader Cornell (9-5), Princeton cannot finish higher than second.

The team can, however, look forward to playing the role of a spoiler next weekend, possibly derailing the Big Red’s hopes of their third straight Ivy League championship.

That is, if Mother Nature will finally allow them to play a weekend as scheduled.

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A threatening storm system could force the games to be moved to as early as Wednesday, but the Tigers are already used to the weather messing with their plans.