Princeton University Athletics
Objective Clear for Princeton Softball Heading into Final Ivy Weekend
April 20, 2006 | Softball
April 20, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - It may be a tough task, but the math couldn't be any clearer for the Princeton softball team this weekend. Four wins equals NCAA Championship berth. No "if" situations, no scoreboard watching necessary. To accomplish that goal, the Tigers (23-14, 9-1 Ivy) head to Harvard Saturday at noon and Dartmouth Sunday at 1 p.m. for a pair of doubleheaders.
Cornell stands two games behind Princeton, remaining so after the two teams split a doubleheader last Sunday at Class of 1895 Field. Every Cornell loss this weekend means one fewer win is necessary for Princeton, but no help would be needed if the Orange and Black sweeps the weekend. Princeton needs to end the weekend two games ahead of Cornell because despite Princeton ending its Ivy schedule this weekend, Cornell has one more doubleheader next Saturday against Columbia. With a sweep there, Cornell could make up a game in the standings without Princeton being on the field.
On Harvard: The Crimson enter the week at 15-16, 4-4 in the Ivy League before a doubleheader Thursday with UMass. No starter is hitting .300 for Harvard with senior Pilar Adams leading the team at .296. The Riverside, Calif., native shares a hometown with fellow senior Amanda Erickson of the Tigers, though the two went to different high schools within the city. The team is hitting .264, below the .279 average for Princeton that has moved up almost steadily throughout the season. In the circle, Princeton's league-best 1.75 ERA outshines the 3.16 earned runs per game averaged by Harvard's staff. A pair of sophomore righthanders from Southern California, Amanda Watkins (4-7, 2.79 ERA) and Shelly Madick (6-4, 3.07), have had the most decisions on the four-person staff.
On Dartmouth: Dartmouth is 12-17, 5-3 in Ivy play before two with UConn Thursday. Rookie outfielder Katie Chifcian is the team's only hitter above .300 at .321. Junior Kelly Fry (.284) has eight of Dartmouth's 22 doubles and three of the seven home runs. The team as a whole has been struggling at the plate compared to the rest of the league, hitting .223. Dartmouth's team ERA is also high by league standards at 4.60. Two pitchers, rookie Stephanie Trudeau (7-5, 3.99) and sophomore Angela Megaw (3-10, 4.49), have shouldered 151 2/3 of the team's 182 2/3 innings. This weekend will be the first home games for the Ivy League's northernmost team after the only previous scheduled home date, Apr. 4 against Providence, was washed out. The series: Princeton leads Harvard 32-13 and Dartmouth 22-5 in the all-time series. Harvard had won six in a row from 2002-2005 before Princeton won the last meeting last season, while Princeton has taken seven of the last eight from the Big Green.
No-no history: Senior pitcher Erin Snyder's last no-hitter entering the season was at Dartmouth, last April 17. She threw a perfect game against the Big Green, striking out 16 of a possible 21 batters.
Maxin' out: Speaking of striking out near the maximum number of batters in a seven-inning game, Princeton's top two pitchers have turned in even higher totals than the 16 Ks in the Dartmouth perfect-game last year by Snyder. Two weekends ago, while tossing a two-hitter against Brown, Snyder struck out 19 batters. Wednesday against Seton Hall, Kristen Schaus had a three-hit game in which she struck out 17.
Blackjack: Snyder has had a 21-strikeout game, but it wasn't in seven innings. Last April 16, Snyder beat Harvard 1-0 in 10 frames for her career-best strikeout total.
Hello Motal: Senior Lindsay Motal is 6 for 11 in her last five games with two starts. The hot streak comes after Motal had just three hits in her first 13 games (3 for 25). Over eight days, Motal raised her batting average 96 points.
Get her some runs: A string Schaus would rather end continued Wednesday as the sophomore had another strong outing but took the loss. In her last five defeats, Schaus has given up three or fewer runs but still taken the loss. She carries a 1.89 ERA, among the best in the league, but a 10-8 record.
More K: Both of Princeton's weekend starting pitchers have piled up strikeouts by the (near) dozen or more in recent games. In Schaus' last six starts, she has fanned 10 or more batters five times with the career-high 17 Wednesday. Snyder has fanned no fewer than 11 batters in six of her last seven starts.
The Kat's meow: Freshman outfielder Kathryn Welch is one of only two players, along with senior Cristina Cobb-Adams, to start all 37 games for Princeton. She's been doing much more than filling a place on the lineup card, however, as she's had a hit in 26 of the 32 games from the spring trip forward. After the end of the season's first weekend in North Carolina, Welch was batting .067. She has since raised that average 300 points and peaked at .373 after the Cornell twinbill. Her .367 average is tops on the team and she has been recognized three times this year as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week. She is the league's leading freshman at the plate among starters.
Don't walk... or run: Snyder brings a 36-inning walkless streak into the weekend and has not given a free pass since Mar. 30 at Fairfield. Snyder has an unbelievable strikeout-to-walk ratio of 31.8:1 with 159 Ks and just five walks all year. She hadn't allowed a run since that game until last weekend when Cornell and Columbia managed a total of three off her in 14 innings.
National recognition: Three individuals are listed in three NCAA top 30 listings this week and the Tigers as a team were in two. The .979 fielding percentage Princeton sported at the beginning of the week was good for fifth in Division I, while the team's 1.64 ERA was 21st in the nation. Currently, Princeton has a .978 fielding clip and 1.75 ERA.
Individually, Stephanie Steel was the 15th-toughest batter to strike out at 23.8 at-bats between Ks. That has since improved to 25 at-bats per strikeout. Snyder had a seventh-best 11.8 strikeouts per seven innings, while Schaus was 27th at 9.5. While Snyder did not pitch Wednesday, Schaus' average has improved to 9.9. Princeton was one of only five schools with two pitchers ranked in the nation's top 27 and the only team from outside a major conference as Texas, Arizona, Tennessee and Washington were Princeton's company in that category. Snyder's 0.89 ERA was 16th in Division I.
Looking ahead: As Princeton's Ivy season ends this weekend, the schedule has four non-conference doubleheaders lined up with area teams. Thursday, April 27, Princeton travels to Villanova before hosting St. John's April 29. The following day, the Tigers head back down to the Philadelphia area to play two at St. Joseph's. The regular season ends at Rider May 6.