Softball: Princeton looks to carry momentum into final games against Cornell

Tuesday’s victory marked the end of a seven-game skid that eliminated Princeton (14-24, 5-11) from playoff contention. Sophomore pitcher Alex Peyton went the distance in the 5-2 victory, pitching all seven innings and adding two hits and two runs scored. Sophomore outfielder Lizzy Pierce added a home run and two RBIs, and sophomore second baseman Candy Button had two hits, the latter of which drove in the Tigers’ final run.

Pierce also homered in the first game of the doubleheader, giving her four on the year and a share of the team lead with Peyton and junior third baseman Kelsey VandeBergh. Pierce leads the team with a .330 batting average, and she is third in the Ivy League with 10 doubles. Peyton, despite her 5-12 record, holds a 3.46 ERA, the ninth-best in the league; she also has 71 strikeouts.

The Big Red is led by outfielder Marissa Amiraian, who is batting .417 in the leadoff spot. Catcher Kristen Towne and outfielder Erin Belles provide the power for Cornell with six home runs each. Elizabeth Dalrymple, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, anchors the mound for the Big Red, boasting a 16-6 record with a 1.59 ERA and an impressive 179 strikeouts in 158.1 innings.

Cornell holds a three-game lead over Penn in the division with six contests remaining, including a pair of head-to-head contests that were postponed. A sweep would clinch the division title and a third consecutive appearance in the Ivy League Championship series for the Big Red.

Nonetheless, the Tigers will make one last surge to end the season strongly.

“Last year, we were very much in the same position going into this weekend,” Pierce said. “We were out of the Ivy race, but we were able to steal the last game from Cornell and play competitively throughout the last doubleheader.”

The Friday games, which begin at 2 p.m., are the team’s last home contests of the year on the Class of 1895 Field, and afterwards the Tigers will travel to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Sunday doubleheader. These games are the last for third baseman Megan Weidrick and pitcher Michelle Tolfa, who will be honored Friday on Senior Day.

“It’s Senior Weekend,” Pierce added. “And we would like to say goodbye to our amazing upperclassmen in true Princeton fashion: by beating the Big Red.”