Softball: Team trades sweeps in 1st home games

In their first game against the Big Green (7-12, 0-4), the Tigers seemed like they were still stuck in their spring-break hitting slump, as the team struggled to get on base and score runs early on. Dartmouth did not find a rhythm either, so the score remained tied at zero going into the sixth inning.

But in the bottom of the frame, the Tigers finally found their momentum. Freshman left fielder Rachel Rendina started off the late-inning rally with a leadoff single. Princeton then used three bunts, two of which turned into singles, to load the bases. Freshman designated player Cara Worden and sophomore catcher Maddie Cousens each contributed RBIs with a single and a walk, and junior right fielder Candy Button brought in two more runs with another single.

The Tigers have been able to string together singles nicely at times this season, and it paid off on Friday by giving the Tigers a comfortable 4-0 lead.

Dartmouth tried to stage a comeback with a single and double in the top of the seventh, but junior Alex Peyton struck out the last two batters to complete seven innings of shutout pitching.

The win snapped Princeton’s eight-game losing streak and gave the Tigers momentum going into the second game, in which Princeton quickly jumped to an early lead thanks to a two-run blast by Peyton in the first inning. The home run was her fourth of the season and the first of her two hits in the game.

By the third inning, the Tigers held a 5-0 lead over the Big Green. Dartmouth cut its deficit to three with two runs in the sixth, but that was all the scoring as Princeton came away with the win.

The doubleheader against Dartmouth featured some great hitting by the Tigers, but what was even more impressive was the Tigers’ presence in the circle. Peyton and junior Liza Kuhn combined for 12 consecutive innings of scoreless pitching and 10 strikeouts, making Friday the best day of the season for the Princeton hurlers.

After coming off of two big wins, the Tigers returned to the field on Saturday to play two games against Harvard (15-8, 3-1), which had just split a doubleheader against Cornell. Princeton dug itself into a five-run hole after the top of the fifth but retaliated with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Senior outfielder Nicole Ontiveros started the rally with a leadoff walk, and Peyton highlighted the inning with another home run, this time a solo shot.

Harvard tacked on another run in the top of the seventh to bring the score to 6-3. Princeton did not go down easily, though, as Ontiveros began a last-licks comeback by using her speed to get on base with a bunt single. Another single by senior third baseman Kelsey VandeBergh and a walk by Peyton quickly loaded the bases for Tigers. Worden continued to show her clutch hitting with a single that brought in two runs, cutting a lead that had been as large as five runs down to one. With the tying run on third base, the Tigers could not extend the rally, and Harvard narrowly escaped with a 6-5 win.

The second game opened much like the first, with Harvard getting out to an early lead. In the 8-0 loss, the Tigers were inconsistent, as their five hits only came from three players — a stark contrast to the previous game in which seven out of 10 players contributed hits.

With this weekend’s games now in the record book, Princeton is now ranked third in the Ivy League South Division, which is led by Penn (4-0) and Cornell (3-1). The Tigers will take a quick break from Ivy League play as they will host Seton Hall for a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3:30 p.m.