Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Spend Spring Break In Hotbed Of College Softball
March 11, 2004 | Softball
March 11, 2004
Princeton, N.J. - The softball team (2-3) hits the road for another two tournaments after an impressive start at the Leadoff Classic last month, when it defeated two nationally ranked teams. The Tigers now travel to California, the hotbed of collegiate softball, for tournaments at U.C. Riverside and Cal State Fullerton during Spring Break.
Princeton faces Canisius (2-3), San Diego (7-13) and U.C. Riverside (5-18) at the Riverside Invitational and then plays at Fullerton's Kia Klassic in a pool with three nationally recognized teams - No. 8 Washington (13-5), No. 17 Pacific (15-3) and Texas A&M (12-10), who was ranked as high as No. 15 before dropping out of the NFCA poll last week.
Cal State Fullerton (6-12), who entered the season ranked No. 13 and played 11 games against ranked opponents, hosts the Kia Klassic, which also features Arizona (No. 2), Florida State (No. 5), Oklahoma (No. 6), La. Lafayette (No. 10), Fresno State (No. 15), Nebraska (No. 19), Arizona State (No. 20), DePaul, UNLV, Illinois and the U.S. Olympic Team. Princeton (2-3) opened the Leadoff Classic and their season with a 3-1 win over then No. 18 Arizona State, who entered the game at 15-8. Erin Snyder threw a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts while Princeton needed just one hit for the win. The Tigers scored twice in the fifth without a hit, as Kristin Lueke drove in a run with a fielder's choice and Stephanie Steel drove in the other with her second sacrifice fly of the day.
Princeton then lost to No. 20 South Carolina, again managing just one hit in the 6-0 shutout. Melissa Finley had the lone hit and also took the loss on the mound, striking out eight but allowing 12 hits.
Princeton bounced back the next day with a 1-0 win over No. 16 Fresno State, led by Snyder's 11-strikeout, three-hit performance. The Tigers got seven hits including two apiece from Kristin Del Calvo and Tiffany Andras. Wendy Bingham went 1 for 4 and scored the winning run.
The Tigers' 2-1 record in pool play put them in the Silver Championship bracket where they lost to Notre Dame and then No. 3 California. Lueke went 2 for 3 and Snyder hit Princeton's first homerun of the year in the 10-1 loss to the Fighting Irish, a game that was tied 1-1 after four innings. Against the Bears, Snyder struck out eight and allowed just two hits but the Tigers, who got just three hits, stranded all three on base for the 2-0 loss.
Despite the early wins, Princeton has been outscored 19-5 and is batting just .139 overall with four players who are hitless in four or more games. Of the 17 hits in 122 at-bats, just one was an extra-base hit (Snyder's homer).
Among the offensive leaders, Andras is 3 for 10 and Del Calvo is 3 for 14 while Steel has two RBIs and Snyder and Lueke each have one. Snyder has been the saving grace on the mound with 37 strikeouts and a 2.77 ERA in 26 innings pitched. She has walked just four batters. Princeton made just two errors, compared to six by its opponents.
Riveriside Invitational Opponents
Canisius also enters the tournament at 2-3, with a 4-1 win at Furman and an 8-0 win in six innings at North Carolina A&T before losing three straight to College of Charleston, Central Florida and Akron.
The Golden Griffins were picked to finish fourth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference behind Rider, Siena and Fairfield.
Canisius senior Jamie Gorczynski was one of two Griffins to be named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Gorczynski leads the team in batting average (.357), going 5 for 14 in the first five games, and has also scored four of the team's 16 runs. Newcomer Beth Enk was also named to the preseason all-star squad at the designated player position. Enk is a junior transfer from Central Arizona Junior College, where she hit .362 with 48 RBIs and 39 runs scored as the Vaqueros won the National Junior College Athletic Association title for the seventh time in the last 13 years.
Four players have split time on the mound, led by Andrea Bunten's 10 innings with 14 strikeouts and a 2.10 ERA. Jena Jurich pitched nine innings with five strikeouts and a 0.72 ERA. Overall the Grifs are batting .218 and have been outscored 21-16.
San Diego came out strong in 2004 with three straight shutouts of Whittier and U.C. San Diego but has now lost its last five, dropping to 7-13 overall.
Jennifer Delpit is batting a team-best .391 while Sara Mason has 22 hits including eight extra-base hits and10 RBI. San Diego averages .255 at the plate and has just two homers in 128 hits. The Toreros use four pitchers, led by Anna Russell's 2.31 ERA in 30 innings pitched. Gina McFarland has a 2.94 ERA in 33 innings while Erin Harmonson has a team-high 26 strikeouts.
U.C. Riverside, who was picked to finish seventh out of eight teams in the Big West, is 5-18 and on a five-game losing streak. Its last win came against Riverside Tournament opponent participant San Diego, who the Highlanders swept 3-0 and 3-2 on March 6. But a week earlier, San Diego defeated Riverside 6-0 in their first meeting of the season.
Sophomore Melissa Sanchez is batting .306 with five doubles and 13 RBI while freshman Elizabeth Buck has a team-high three homeruns, 11 runs scored and 13 RBI. Four players have seen significant time on the mound, led by Kimberly Dixon's 59 innings pitched. She has 22 strikeouts and a 5.58 ERA. The team ERA is 5.33 with 59 strikeouts and 60 walks.