Softball: Team splits season-ending games with Cornell

The Tigers (16-26 overall, 7-13 Ivy League) split Friday’s home doubleheader, losing the second game after mounting a valiant comeback win over the Big Red (26-20-1, 11-7) in the first.

The opener started out slowly, with the early stages of the game completely dominated by both pitchers.

Senior pitcher Michelle Tolfa and Cornell’s Elizabeth Dalryrumple battled back and forth through the first four innings, neither giving ground as the game settled into a deadlock. Cornell finally scored two runs in the fifth, and the Big Red appeared poised to run away with the victory.

The Tigers battled back slowly, however, as senior third baseman Megan Weidrick hit a home run at the bottom of the sixth and sophomore outfielder Lizzy Pierce scored the game-tying run in the seventh on a single by freshman catcher Maddie Cousens.

Cornell failed to score in the eighth, setting up Pierce’s game-winning single at the bottom of the frame.

The Big Red struck quickly in the second game, scoring four runs in the first inning. The Tigers caught up, but Cornell retook the lead, scoring five more runs in the next three frames to take a 9-4 lead. Princeton scored twice more in the bottom of the sixth, but it was not enough for a comeback as the Tigers fell 9-6.

The Big Red carried that momentum into the first game on Sunday, building an insurmountable lead after scoring nine runs in the second inning.

Princeton scored its first and only run of the game at the top of the fourth, but Cornell retaliated with four more runs, and the game was called with a final score of 14-1 after Princeton went scoreless at the top of the fifth.

The Tigers refused to be intimidated, though, retaliating early and often in the last game of the season. Princeton built its lead slowly, scoring two runs in the second and sixth innings and four runs in the third and seventh innings for a dominant 12-2 win.

The Tigers’ victory means that Cornell has not clinched the South Division and will have to make up its postponed doubleheader against Penn. They lead the division by two wins, but a sweep by the Quakers would give Penn the advantage over the Big Red.

For the Tigers, the game was a good way to close out the Ivy League season and a testament to what this team is capable of at its best.

Tolfa and Weidrick, Princeton’s two seniors, both contributed heavily to the Tigers’ success, but most of the Tigers will be back next year and are poised to make large strides to catch up to the league leaders next season.