Princeton University Athletics
Defending League Champions Meet as Softball Travels to Lehigh Wednesday
April 03, 2006 | Softball
April 3, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - Last year, the Princeton softball team (16-8) defeated Lehigh (19-8) all three times, including once in the NCAA Tournament. And while the history is nice, unfortunately for the Tigers none of it counts Wednesday when the defending Ivy League and Patriot League champions square off in Bethlehem, Pa. A battle of aces figures to take place in the first game with Princeton's Erin Snyder (8-3, 0.92 ERA) and Lehigh's Lisa Sweeney (12-3, 0.93) likely to square off.
The history: Princeton is 26-3 all-time against Lehigh. Since the teams split a pair of doubleheaders in 2003, the Tigers have won the last five meetings and have not lost at Lehigh since 1987, a streak of nine games.
Streaking!: The Tigers are on a seven-game winning streak, longest since an eight-game string in 2004. Princeton has not won nine or more games straight since 2002, when it won 10 in a row late in the season.
Keys(tone) to victory: With Saturday's doubleheader sweep on the banks of the Schuylkill River at Penn, the Tigers are 2-0 in Pennsylvania this seasono. Six more games in the Keystone State are ahead with Wednesday's twinbill at Lehigh, one at Villanova on Apr. 27 and one at St. Joseph's on Apr. 30.
Nice week: Erin Snyder had a tremendous four-day stretch on the softball diamond last week. Between Wednesday and Saturday against Rutgers, Fairfield and Penn, Snyder made three starts and added a relief appearance, picking up the win all four times. She struck out 34 batters in 22.2 innings, allowing just 10 hits and two runs with two walks. All season, in 68.2 innings over 11 appearances, Snyder has never allowed more than one walk and never struck out fewer than six batters in a start. Five times, Snyder fanned 10 or more batters. Her strikeout-to-walk ratio this season stands at an amazing 20.6:1, striking out 103 batters and walking five. Cobb-ling victories: Cristina Cobb-Adams has hit in all six games since returning from the spring trip and carries a seven-game hitting streak overall, hitting an even .300 (24 for 80) this season.
Good rate of exchange: Rookie Samantha O'Hara, a native Torontonian, had a fine day at Penn Saturday, going 4 for 7 with two doubles in the twinbill. After collecting hits in three of her first nine games, she has hit in four straight.
What can't she do?: While Snyder's pitching prowess is impressive, her hitting is noteworthy too. The senior carries an eight-game hitting streak into the Lehigh doubleheader, hitting .370 over the stretch. After last season, in which she hit more home runs than she gave up, knocking six and allowing five, she could pull that rare feat again. She has hit two round-trippers and allowed two this year.
Hot bat for Kat: Rookie Kathryn Welch is 7 for 12 (.583) over her last three games with three RBI and two doubles. She has hit in the last seven games in which she's had an at-bat, posting a team-best .343 average.
Disciplined hitters: Princeton batters have struck out 94 times this season, less than half the rate of Tiger opponents, who have fanned 229 times. Princeton also draws more walks than its foes, 53-38.
There's only one E in Princeton: ...And the Tigers are averaging half an "E" per game. Princeton has committed only 11 errors in its 24 games, logging a .982 fielding percentage. That's better than their opponents' .959 success rate.
Hittin' Hawks: Lehigh has five regular starters at or above .300 and two at or near .400. Junior outfielder Julie Sterrett is 27 for 80 (.400) this season and sophomore outfielder Kate Marvel (.394) has a team-best three triples. Senior catcher Mary Weider is the team's top slugger at .346 with five home runs, six doubles and 25 RBI.
Looking ahead: The home Ivy schedule opens Saturday with Yale and Sunday with Brown, both twinbills at 1 p.m. It will also be the first full weekend of Ivy play as Princeton and Penn were the only two Ancient Eight schools to square off. Yale has also won two-thirds of its games through the non-conference portion of the schedule, posting a 20-10 record with one at Fairfield Wednesday. Brown (9-17) also has one at Connecticut Tuesday and two against Central Connecticut Thursday before traveling to Penn Saturday.