Princeton University Athletics
Softball Sweeps Two at Fairfield in Final Pre-Ivy Contests
March 30, 2006 | Softball
March 30, 2006
Box Score
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Erin Snyder took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the opener and the Princeton softball team (14-8) won in extra innings in the nightcap at Fairfield (18-10) on Thursday to take the doubleheader. The sweep extended the Tigers' winning streak to five heading into Saturday's Ivy League opener at Penn. After 18 hits Wednesday in two games against Rutgers, Princeton had 21 against Fairfield as the Stags committed eight errors on the day in 6-2 and 5-4 Princeton victories.
GAME ONE
Princeton picked up a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Stephanie Steel lined a one-out single through the left side and had taken third on a passed ball and groundout by the time Snyder came up two batters later. It looked like the Tigers would strand Steel at third as Snyder's comebacker tipped off pitcher Kate Roberts' glove and into the reach of second baseman Riannon Thomas, but Thomas had trouble picking up the ball and Snyder reached first safely.
More fielding miscues led to Princeton padding its lead in the third inning. After a leadoff single by Steel, Kathryn Welch reached when Stag first baseman Breanne Morschauser decided too late to go after Welch rather than Steel going to second and both reached safely. Snyder reached when rightfielder Cagney Ringnalda dropped a fly ball. That loaded the bases for Amanda Erickson, who lined a single through the left side for a 2-0 lead. Lauren Bierman reached on a fielder's choice while Welch beat the throw home from third, and Princeton was up 3-0. Jackie Araneo hit a ball that skipped off the glove of third baseman Erin Frank and into left field for an error, scoring the Tigers' final two runs of the inning and giving the Orange and Black a 5-0 edge. All the runs scored with no outs before Bierman was cut down at third on the play and the next two batters were retired. The Tigers made it 6-0 in the fifth when back-to-back two-out singles scored Bierman, who reached on a fielder's choice. Steel ended the game 3 for 4 at the plate while Tiffany Andras was 2 for 2 as a mid-game replacement at third.
Meanwhile, Snyder (6-3) was rolling through the Fairfield lineup. Retiring the first 17 batters she faced, Fairfield didn't have a baserunner until Jenna DiBernardo worked Snyder for a walk with two outs in the sixth. The Stags got a pair of singles to lead off the seventh and break up the no-hit bid. After the two Stag runners moved into scoring position on a groundout, Molly Harris came home on a fly ball and the shutout was gone as well. Thomas cashed in Tara Hansen with a single, and the Princeton lead stood at 6-2 before a flyout ended the game. Snyder finished with three hits and two runs with a walk and six strikeouts.
Roberts (3-2), her counterpart, allowed 11 hits and earned two of Princeton's six runs due to the three errors, walking one and striking out one.
GAME TWO
Princeton scored a first-inning run for the fifth straight game thanks to a two-out Welch single, a walk to Snyder and a single by Erickson that converted the run for a 1-0 lead. The Tigers added another in the third, moving Welch around the bases after her leadoff double.
Fairfield tied it at 2-2 in the third after a pair of two-out hits had runners on second and third and Harris drove them both in by knocking a 3-2 pitch up the middle. Princeton, which had left seven runners on base and four in scoring position through the first four innings, broke the tie in the fifth. After a two-out single and a walk, Araneo landed a single in left-center that brought Samantha O'Hara around from second for a 3-2 lead.
The Stags looked like they might tie the game again in the bottom half of the fifth after a leadoff double, but Schaus got the next three batters in order to help Princeton hang on to the one-run lead. Fairfield broke through with two in the sixth, all without a hit thanks to an error and a walk. With one out and runners at second and third, the tying run came home when Hansen slid in ahead of the tag on a fielder's choice. The runner behind her, Frank, scored on a sacrifice fly for a 4-3 Fairfield lead.
But the Tigers came back in the top of the seventh. O'Hara smashed a double to the wall in left-center to start the frame and went to third on a wild pitch. Araneo picked up an RBI with a fly ball to center, tying the game. Princeton had a chance to take the lead with two runners in scoring position thanks to a walk to Larkin Brogan and a two-base throwing error on a two-out ball hit by Moreno, but a groundout ended the threat.
Once again, Fairfield mounted a challenge in its half of the seventh. Morschauser singled to lead off the inning and moved around to third on a sacrifice and another single. But two flyouts, the first one too shallow to bring in the run from third, pushed the game into extra frames.
With the umpires deciding that inning number eight would be the last due to the receding sunlight, the Tigers did their best to take advantage. Steel led off with a double down the line and was sacrificed to third. But the go-ahead run was erased as pitcher Hansen went home with the throw, nabbing Steel for the second out. Just as in the first game, a defensive mistake hurt the Stags. Beth Dalmut's liner got through the legs of Logan at first and Snyder, who singled, rounded third and hesitated, finally breaking for home and skirting the throw from right field.
And again, Fairfield responded in its half of the inning. With a leadoff walk to Frank and a sacrifice putting her in scoring position, the tying run was on second base with one out. A wild pitch moved Frank to third, but a strikeout and groundout saved the win.
Princeton starter Kristen Schaus (7-4) allowed six hits and four runs, three earned, with two walks and eight strikeouts. Welch, Steel and Araneo each had two hits in the nightcap. The Tigers left 14 runners on base including 10 in scoring position.
Hansen (2-6) started the second game in the circle for Fairfield, giving up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits and three walks, striking out five.
Saturday's doubleheader in Philadelphia against the Quakers begins at 1 p.m.