Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Softball Opens Ivy Season at Penn Saturday
March 31, 2006 | Softball
March 31, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - To say the least, the Penn-Princeton softball series has been one-sided. For the 46th and 47th times Saturday, the two programs meet with Princeton (14-8) looking to build on its 43-2 all-time mark against the Quakers (11-14). The 1 p.m. twinbill at Penn's Warren Field also starts Princeton's Ivy League title defense.
Good thing it's not cards: If the Tigers hit in card games as much as they have been lately on the softball diamond, they'd bust. Fortunately, you can't hit enough in softball, and Princeton has been taking advantage by pounding out 39 hits over two days in back-to-back doubleheader sweeps of Rutgers and Fairfield.
Lucky 13?: Princeton has won 11 in a row against Penn in Philadelphia, where a pair of wins would extend the streak to 13. The Tigers stand 19-1 all-time on the Quakers' turf. Overall in the series, Penn's wins came in 2000 in Philadelphia and in 1991 at Old Nassau. Princeton has won the other 43 of the 45 meetings with two 16-game win streaks in the series' 25-season history.
Honoraria: Of the Ivy League's nine honors over three weeks for Pitcher, Player and Rookie of the Week, Princeton has won five. Erin Snyder has been named Pitcher of the Week twice (Mar. 14 and 28) and the Tigers swept the Mar. 21 awards. Calli Jo Varner was the Ivy Player of the Week while Kathryn Welch was the honored rookie and Kristen Schaus was the recognized pitcher.
The swingin' Quakers: While Princeton's hitting talents have been impressive of late, Penn is outhitting he Tigers by almost 70 points, .313 to .244. Four regular Quaker starters are hitting .389 or better with no other Penn batter at the .300 mark. Junior Christina Khosravi leads that talented foursome with a .400 average (32 for 80, starting all 25 games), ranking her second in the Ivy League heading into the week. It should set up an interesting confrontation between a pair of San Diegans when Khosravi digs in against Princeton's Snyder. Arms race: While both teams can hit the ball, the games may be won in the circle. Princeton's 1.89 team ERA betters Penn's 4.70 average. Even more telling are the strikeout-to-walk ratios of the two teams. Princeton's staff has fanned 207 batters while walking only 36, a ratio of 5.75:1. Penn's staff has allowed more free passes than strikeouts with 107 walks and 69 Ks. While no pitcher on the Penn staff has a positive ratio, Snyder has 85 strikeouts and five walks, a 17:1 difference. Schaus has 108 Ks and 22 walks, almost 5:1.
Cobb-ling out wins: While Penn's Khosravi is a strong-hitting shortstop, Princeton has one to match. Senior Cristina Cobb-Adams is on a five-game hit streak, all Princeton victories. The Tigers are 12-4 when the .301-hitting shortstop gets at least a base hit.
Streak snapped: Speedy freshman Brianna Moreno, who has carved out a starting role in left field with her bat as well as with her glove, had a seven-game hit streak snapped in the nightcap against Fairfield. Even so, the rookie is hitting a solid .273 with 12 hits in 44 at-bats, starting 20 of Princeton's 22 games.
The S.S. Princeton: Snyder and Schaus anchor the Tiger pitching staff and have combined for 193 strikeouts (108 for Schaus, 85 for Snyder) through Princeton's first 22 games. With 28 more games left on the regular-season schedule, that total puts the pair on pace for 439 Ks, just behind the 442 recorded last season in 56 games when Schaus and Snyder were the first two Princeton pitchers to have over 200 Ks in the same season.
Steely Stephanie: Junior outfielder Stephanie Steel raised her batting average 50 points in a day with a 5 for 9 performance at Fairfield. With a four-game hit streak going, Steel is now batting .246.
Kat the Bat: Freshman Kathryn Welch, along with Cobb-Adams one of only two players to start all 22 games, is proving to be quite a find in a talented class of six rookies. She has hits in 14 of Princeton's last 19 games, hitting .367 during the stretch, and leads the team with three home runs. Her .305 batting average is also tops among regular Princeton starters.
No jogging: If the Major League Baseball season is a marathon, then the Ivy League softball season is a sprint. While Penn and Princeton get things started Saturday, the first full league weekend is not until April 8-9. While Princeton wraps up the conference slate April 23 at Dartmouth, the rest of the teams finish up April 29-30. The Ivy standings will go from eight teams tied at 0-0 to a conference champion in the space of 30 days.
Looking ahead: Princeton returns home for the second and third of seven home dates April 8-9 against Yale and Brown. That Saturday's twinbill against Yale figures to be a pitchers' duel as the lowest six individual ERAs all wear Yale or Princeton uniforms.