Princeton University Athletics
Softball Defends Ivy Title In League-Opener At Penn This Saturday
April 01, 2004 | Softball
April 1, 2004
Princeton, N.J. - The defending Ivy League champion Princeton softball team begins conference action at Penn this Saturday with hopes of repeating its performance from last season, when it swept the Quakers 3-2 and 4-3.
Back and better than ever, junior Melissa Finley and sophomore Erin Snyder will defend their Player of the Year and Rookie of Year titles as Princeton enters the 2004 campaign for a third straight Ivy League crown.
Princeton is 11-10 after winning four of its last five games, including a doubleheader sweep at Fairfield when Finley hit a three-run homer and freshman Calli Varner recorded her first collegiate no-hitter in a 4-0 shutout.
The Tigers face a Penn team who, after finishing last in the Ivies last season, is just 8-14-1 so far this year. Last week, the Quakers won their season opener 1-0 against Lafayette but then dropped their next three home games. Penn then held off Lehigh on Wednesday, winning the first 2-1 and tying the second game of the doubleheader 2-2. The Quakers are batting better than the Tigers with a .248 average compared to Princeton's .237 but that is the only edge Penn has. Erin O'Brien is the only Quaker batting over .300 as she leads the team in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.327), hits (18), extra-base hits (10) and RBIs (13). O'Brien also has four of her team's six home runs this season.
Lindsey Permar is Penn's ace, pitching 67 innings with 71 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA. Overall, the pitching crew has a 4.82 ERA and lets opponents bat .308.
If the game is a battle of pitchers, Princeton has the best in Snyder, Finley, Varner and freshman Amelia Runyan. Opponents bat just .232 against them and have been struck out 148 times, or more than seven times per game.
Finley and Snyder lead Princeton in both offensive and defensive categories. Snyder has team-highs in batting average (.347) and batters struck out (68) while Finley leads the Tigers in hits (20), extra-base hits (7), home runs (3), RBIs (15) and total bases (34). Finley is second in batting average (.333) and has a team-high ERA of 2.29 in 49 innings.
Princeton's left-handed slap hitters have been effective this season, beginning with junior lead-off batter Kristin Lueke, whose 20 hits tie Finley for the team-high. Senior co-captain Wendy Bingham and freshman Stephanie Steel have 12 hits apiece from the left side.
The Tigers take on the Quakers this Saturday, April 3 at Penn's Warren Field. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.