On Sunday, softball (13–14 overall, 7–2 Ivy League) finished their weekend series with their second win against the Penn Quakers (3–26, 1–8).
The Tigers had decisively won Friday’s matchup 7–0 and came into the day looking for a series win — and possibly a sweep. Unfortunately, the Tigers would split the Sunday doubleheader, handing the Quakers their first Ivy League win of the season.
Princeton opened game one with first-year pitcher Brielle Wright and the Quakers opened with their own first-year pitcher Kelly Zybura. The Tigers got on the board early when a lead-off double in the first inning from senior left fielder Serena Starks was followed by an RBI single from senior designated hitter Adrienne Chang. The Quakers were able to limit the damage to only one run, and from there, the game saw no further scoring until the fourth inning.
In the fourth inning, Princeton was held scoreless whereas Penn managed to string together a walk and two singles, the second single plating the game-tying run with another runner in scoring position.
An error by Tigers sophomore center fielder Lauren Sablone allowed Penn to take a 2–1 lead with runners on second and third. After another RBI single resulted in two more runs, the Tigers were now trailing 4–1.
After a two-out single in the fifth, the Tigers made a pitching change, bringing in sophomore Meghan Harrington. Harrington gave up a home run to the first batter she faced in the fifth inning, extending the Quaker lead to 6–1 before the inning’s end a batter later.
As the score gap increased to five, the Tigers made a late charge in the seventh inning. Starks and sophomore right fielder Allison Ha’s back-to-back RBI doubles cut the advantage to three, but the Tigers were unable to do any further damage and dropped the first game at Penn by a score of 6–3.
After a disappointing result in game one, the Tigers opened game two with senior Alexis Laudenslager on the mound, matched up against Quakers sophomore Payton Bean. Both pitchers started off strong, keeping the game scoreless through the first three innings.
In the fourth, Princeton broke through with an RBI single from junior shortstop Grace Jackson, with Starks scoring. However, the lead was short-lived as Penn responded in their half of the fourth with an unearned run coming on an error from Ha in right field.
“We didn’t perform at our best after the first game but we found ways to scrap runs across and win the series,” Starks told The Daily Princetonian.
With the game tied, extra innings looked like a real possibility, as both pitchers produced two more scoreless innings going into the seventh.
In the seventh, the Tigers opened the inning with a walk from Jackson. Junior infielder Cate Bade followed the walk with a double, scoring Jackson and advancing to third on the play. This saw Zybura return to the mound for the Quakers, but that didn’t stop sophomore infielder Sophia Marsalo from doubling the lead with an RBI sacrifice fly.
The Tigers entered the bottom of the seventh three outs away from a series win, and Laudenslager did not disappoint. The senior struck out the first batter before inducing back-to-back ground outs in a three-up, three-down inning.
Laudenslager threw all seven innings and finished with an impressive 11 strikeouts and two walks, allowing only one run. This dominant pitching performance, along with some clutch hitting, led the Tigers to a win in game two, a split in the Sunday doubleheader, and a 2–1 series win against the Quakers.
“Our goal is to win every series and to achieve that in any way possible,” Starks added. “Finding a way to scrap across a win is essential to having a successful season.”
The Tigers return home for a rematch against Lehigh (27–6, 6–0 Patriot League) on Wednesday before welcoming the Columbia Lions (10–14, 6–3) for a three-game back-to-back Ivy League series this weekend.
Tony Owens is a contributor to the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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