Princeton University Athletics
Bingham, Del Calvo Wrap-Up Softball Careers In Doubleheader This Tuesday
May 03, 2004 | Softball
May 3, 2004
Princeton, N.J. - The Princeton softball team will end its 2004 season this Tuesday, May 4 at Rider, where seniors Kristin Del Calvo and Wendy Bingham will play the final two games of their collegiate careers. The Tigers will bid farewell to their two-year captain Bingham and cheer on Del Calvo as she puts the finishing touches on her career statistics.
A four-year starter at first base, Del Calvo is second in the Princeton record book for career putouts (1,040) and is third for career home runs (21), just one shy of tying for second place. The home run record holder is current junior Melissa Finley, who homered seven times this year for a three-year total of 28 home runs.
In a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the Tigers face a Rider team that is 28-17 overall and 7-5 in the MAAC. The Brocs are batting .283, led by Amanda Tu (.339) and Erin McGlynn (.333), and have 26 home runs, including seven from Tu. Heather Beintem is Rider's ace with a 0.90 ERA, 188 strikeouts and a 17-5 record. Princeton went 3-3 this past week, including a 10-8 come-from-behind, nine-inning win over Columbia to move to 23-22 overall and to finish the Ivy League season with a 7-7 record. The Tigers trailed by as many as five runs in Game 2 against the Lions and entered the bottom of the seventh down 8-4 before rallying to send the game into extra innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, Finley hit a two-run, walk-off homer to give Princeton the 10-8 win. Finley, whose game-winning home run was her seventh dinger this season, was also the winning pitcher, striking out seven batters in seven innings. Finley was 4 for 5 with four RBIs and two runs while Del Calvo finished 4 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs.
In the first game against Columbia, Princeton managed just one hit, a single by Finley, in the 5-1 loss.
Earlier in the week, the Tigers traveled twice to Pennsylvania for non-conference doubleheaders against Saint Joseph's and Villanova. Del Calvo hit two two-run homers and Cristina Cobb-Adams went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI for an 8-7 win in the first game against Saint Joseph's. Lindsay Motal had her first career home run and Erin Snyder also homered in the win.
Motal continued to shine in Game 2 when she homered again and finished 3 for 3 in the 2-0 win. Amelia Runyan pitched a three-hitter in her first complete game.
Two days later at Villanova was a different story as the Tigers managed just three hits in each game of the doubleheader and lost 3-0 and 1-0. Del Calvo accounted for three of those hits, finishing 2 for 3 in Game 2 and hitting safely in five of the last six games.
Del Calvo has 21 career home runs and needs just one more in the final game of her career to finish tied for second behind Finley, who has 28. Snyder, just a sophomore, will finish the season in fifth place on the career strikeout list.
Finley is currently leading Princeton in almost every offensive category including batting average (.309), hits (42), home runs (seven), RBIs (25), runs (21), walks (17) total bases (70) and slugging percentage (.515).