Princeton University Athletics
Jumping Right In: Softball Tackles Toughest Competition First
February 26, 2004 | Softball
Feb. 26, 2004
Princeton, N.J. - Princeton softball opens its season this weekend at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Leadoff Classic where 24 of the nation's top teams vie for early-season bragging rights. Eighteen of those teams are currently ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 or received votes, including No. 3 California, No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Oklahoma and defending Leadoff Classic Champion UMASS. The USA Olympic Team will be in exhibition as well.
The Tigers will use returning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Erin Snyder on the mound, where she collected 191 strikeouts last season. Junior Melissa Finley, the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year, and freshman Calli Varner will also pitch for Princeton this weekend. Senior Kristin Del Calvo will start at first base while junior Kristin Lueke, a 2003 NCAA Regional All-Tournament selection, and sophomore Lindsay Motal will split time at second. Sophomore Cristina Cobb-Adams will once again be at shortstop and junior co-captain Ty Ries and sophomore Amanda Erickson will rotate between third base and behind the plate. All three players were honorable mention All-Ivy selections last season.
Senior co-captain Wendy Bingham has secured a starting role in the outfield along with Finley and rookies Tiffany Andras and Stephanie Steel.
The Tigers compete in a pool with No. 16 Fresno State (5-2), No. 18 Arizona State (15-6) and No. 20 South Carolina (8-0) on Friday and Saturday before advancing to bracket play on Saturday evening and Sunday. Princeton's first opponent is Arizona State, who has already played 21 games this season and jumped up five spots from a 23rd-place ranking in the first 2004 poll.
Last weekend, Arizona State won the Louisville Slugger Classic Tournament with a 5-1 record, including a 24-0 shutout of Utah State. The 24 runs tied a school record set in 1973. Junior shortstop Billie Akauola led the Sun Devils with a grand slam and five other home runs, contributing to the team's 22 hits. ASU also blanked 17th-ranked Iowa and Wisconsin, rallied a 7-6 comeback against Utah State and defeated Illinois State 9-3. Their only loss at the tournament came to Iowa 9-0 in the first of two meetings.
Senior and two-time All-American selection Phelan Wright batted .545 (12 for 22) with four doubles, two home runs, seven runs and 10 RBI and did not strikeout in 22 at-bats in the six tournament games. Wright was a top-40 finalist for National Player of the Year for the past three years.
Joining Wright at the plate is junior Valerie Sevilla who leads the team in batting average (.448), runs (18) and hits (30) and is tied for the team-high in doubles (8) and home runs (5). Sophomore Desiree Serrano is the Sun Devils' ace with a perfect 8-0 record, including three shutouts and a 1.16 ERA. She has thrown a team-high 66 innings with 73 strikeouts.
Immediately following the 5 p.m. matchup with ASU, Princeton faces South Carolina, the team that came back from a 7-2 seventh-inning deficit to defeat the Tigers 8-7 in the NCAA tournament last season. The Gamecocks went on to finish 3-2 at the NCAA Regionals with two losses to Texas A&M, and ended their season at 41-20.
South Carolina, who was No. 25 in the first 2004 poll, went 8-0 so far this season and improved to a 20th-place ranking entering the Leadoff Classic. Five of those wins were shutouts, as the Gamecocks have allowed just six runs and a .167 batting average by their opponents.
Senior third baseman Samantha Jennings leads USC in batting average (.407), hits (11), home runs (5) and runs (9) and is tied for the lead in RBI (11). Ashley Smith has four homers on eight hits with 11 RBI. Senior Stacey Johnson, sophomore Melanie Henkes and Junior Aleca Johnson have split time on the mound, combining for a 0.14 ERA. Aleca Johnson has a team-high 24 strikeouts in 20 innings.
Princeton's third and final pool opponent is Fresno State, which returns 11 letterwinners and six starters from last year's NCAA Regional semifinalist team. The Bulldogs, who were ranked 23rd in the preseason poll and as high as 13th so far this season, boast two All-America selections in junior pitcher Jamie Southern and sophomore shortstop Christina Clark.
Southern has three shutouts and 38 strikeouts and has allowed just one run in five appearances this season. She is batting .333 (7 for 21) with three runs, two doubles, two home runs, four walks, five RBI and 15 total bases for a .714 slugging percentage. Clark leads Fresno State with three homers and six runs while freshman catcher Nicole Willis has a team-high .409 batting average and a seven-game hitting streak.
The ninth annual tournament is held at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Ga. There will be six pools of four teams each, with the top team from each pool advancing to the Gold Championship, along with two at-large teams. The remaining second-place teams, in addition to four at-large teams, will make up the Silver Championship, while the next eight teams will comprise the Bronze Championship. At the end of 12:30 p.m. pool games on Saturday, all of the teams will be placed in one of the championships with single elimination bracket play beginning at 4 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
Princeton attended the Leadoff Classic in 1996 and 1997 when current head coach Maureen (Davies) Barron pitched for the Tigers. The Black and Orange went 0-5 the first year but finished the season with an Ivy League title and No. 1 ranking in the Northeast Region. In 1997, Princeton went 2-3 at the Leadoff Classic.