Princeton University Athletics
Ivy Champion Softball Visits Villanova for Thursday Friendly
April 26, 2006 | Softball
April 26, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - Just three days after clinching the 16th Ivy title and seventh NCAA tournament berth in school history, the Princeton softball team (26-15) hits the field again Thursday. Villanova (13-32) hosts the Tigers in the first of four doubleheaders that will fill part of the 25-day gap between the end of Princeton's Ivy season and the first day of the NCAA Championship.
The series: Princeton leads the all-time series 16-12-1, though Villanova has won the last six decisions. Princeton's last victory came in 2002, a 1-0 win in Pennsylvania.
Keystone State: Princeton will make its third venture of the season onto Pennsylvania soil Thursday. April 1, the Tigers swept an Ivy-opening doubleheader from Penn before losing a single game April 6 at Lehigh.
Tiger calendar: Thursday's games start a busy period for the Tigers, who host St. John's Saturday on Senior Day before heading back to Philadelphia for two against St. Joseph's Sunday. Princeton's regular-season finale is May 6 down the road at Rider. May 14, the Tigers find out their NCAA destination at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNews. Regional competition takes place May 19-21.
Honoring the Tigers: Freshman infielder Jackie Araneo was honored by the Ivy League Tuesday as the conference's rookie of the week for her 8 for 17 (.471) performance at the plate last week. Princeton has received nine of the 21 honors awarded this year and has earned at least one award all seven weeks. It was the fourth Ivy Rookie of the Week honor of the season and first for Araneo after Kathryn Welch received the other three. Erin Snyder has been the Ivy Pitcher of the Week three times with Kristen Schaus receiving that award once. Calli Jo Varner was Princeton's lone Ivy Player of the Week Mar. 21. On Villanova: A solid hitting team, averaging .273, the Wildcats have struggled in the circle. Villanova carries a 4.34 team ERA with sophomore Kat Walsh (9-14, 3.39 ERA) and freshman Laura Determan (4-12, 4.38) leading the staff. Rookie Meghan Morese has a .371 batting average with a team-best 10 home runs, 37 RBI and 14 doubles, slugging an impressive .662. Junior Cassie Koenig is also well over .300 at .338 with eight home runs. The Wildcats were swept last weekend on a Big East trip to DePaul and Notre Dame but won four straight over St. Joseph's and Delaware earlier last week.
Tigers in the NCAAs: Princeton's team and three individuals appear in the latest NCAA statistical rankings through last Sunday. Princeton's .979 fielding percentage is No. 4 in the country, not far behind Stanford's top-ranked .982. Princeton's 1.65 ERA is 21st in Division I.
Individually, junior Stephanie Steel appears twice in the NCAA rankings. Her 0.32 sacrifice hits per game are 27th in Division I, and she is the 14th-toughest player to strike out at the highest level of college softball. In 114 at-bats, Steel has struck out only five times for a rate of 22.8 at-bats between Ks.
The good kind of Ks have contributed to both Snyder and Schaus earning a place in the NCAA rankings. Snyder's 11.8 strikeouts per seven innings are eighth-best in Division I, while Schaus' 9.7 Ks per seven are 23rd in the country. Princeton is one of only four schools in Division I to have two players ranked in the top 23 of that category, along with Texas, Arizona and Tennessee, all of which were in the Women's College World Series last year.
Snyder is also ranked as having the 17th-lowest ERA in Division I at 0.91, one of only 19 pitchers to have a sub-1.00 earned run average.
Dalmut relishes starting role: Sophomore Beth Dalmut started just five of Princeton's first 29 games. Since then, Dalmut has started 12 straight and has a hit in 10 of those games. She is hitting .378 over that span, contributing to a 133-point jump in her batting average during the period.
A walk?: When you've only given up five walks all year, allowing one free pass is big news. Monday at Dartmouth, Snyder had a walk-free streak ended at 47 2/3 innings. She hadn't allowed a walk since March 30 prior to that. Snyder's 180 strikeouts compared to six walks is an astounding 30:1 ratio.