Princeton University
Cornell
Varner Records A Grand Slam To Win Game One, While Her Solo Homer Leads To A Victory In Game Two
April 10, 2005 | Softball
April 10, 2005
Box Score
ITHACA, N.Y. -- With one out in the top of the seventh inning, sophomore Calli Jo Varner recorded her first grand slam as a Tiger for the come-from-behind 4-3 win over Cornell in the first game of the day at Niemand-Robison Field. In game two, Varner sent another bomb over the left field wall leading Princeton to a 2-0 victory. The Tigers improve to 24-9 on the season and 5-1 in the conference, while the Big Red slipped to 16-13 overall and 2-2 in the league.
Varner, who didn't hit any home runs last season, recorded her sixth homer of the year in game two and fourth of the week.
The win in game one came after Princeton trailed 3-0 into the seventh inning. Junior Cristina Cobb-Adams led the Tigers with a single to left field and a sacrifice from junior Lindsay Motal advanced Cobb-Adams to second base. Senior Melissa Finley, then, hit a hard, base hit to left field putting runners on second and first. Junior Erin Snyder loaded the bases with a shot up the middle that was difficult for the short stop to make a play on. With the first pitch, Varner sent her fifth bomb of the season high over the left-center field wall.
Varner, who relieved Snyder on the mound in the bottom of the fifth, sent the Big Red down with three strikeouts in her first inning pitched. On the offensive end of the sixth inning, freshman Beth Dalmut hit a single to left field that split the short stop and the left fielder. Sophomore Stephanie Steel hit a shot to right field on the next pitch to get on base. Sophomore Tiffany Andras stepped to the plate with two outs in front of her and hit a long hard shot to left field that was picked off at the fence by the left fielder. For Cornell, Caitlin Warren hit a bouncing single down the third base line allowing Jenna Campagnolo to round the bases for the first score of the game in the first inning. Later in the third inning, Erin Murtha's shot to left field with bases loaded scored Samantha Hare. On a sacrifice fly, Lauren May came in for the score to give the Big Red a 3-0 advantage at the end of the three innings.
Varner (3-1) recorded six strikeouts and allowed one hit in three innings pitched, while Snyder posted five hits and two earned runs in the game. The Big Red's Whitney Smith pitched seven innings and tallied 10 hits and four runs against her.
Varner's momentun from the first game carried into the second contest. In her first at bat of the game in the second inning, Varner recorded her second home run of the day and put the Tigers up 1-0.
Princeton's second run was recorded on Snyder's RBI in the sixth inning with a single over the second baseman's head that sent Cobb-Adams from second base in for the score. Cobb-Adams advanced to base with a single to left field.
Princeton held on to the shutout by containing Cornell on two possible scoring opportunity in both the sixth and seventh innings. Back at the top of the order and leading off for the Big Red, Campagnolo doubled to right-center field to put Cornell in scoring position. Schaus struck out the next batter and walked the third. Cobb-Adams, then, caught an infield fly ball and Steel collected a diving catch in right field for the final out of the sixth inning. Then in the bottom of the seventh Dalmut picked off Sarah Ruben at the fence with two runners on base for the second out of the inning. Cobb-Adams ended the game with a catch on a pop up.
Schaus (9-6) recorded the win from the mound and allowed four hits in the game. Cornell's Jenn Meunier posted five hits and two runs against her in seven innings.
Princeton travels to Piscataway for a doubleheader against Rutgers on Tuesday, April 12 at 3 p.m.