Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Softball Opens Home Ivy Schedule This Weekend
April 07, 2006 | Softball
April 7, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - A week after sweeping a doubleheader from Penn to start the Ivy schedule, the Princeton softball team (16-9, 2-0 Ivy) takes the conference slate to Class of 1895 Field Saturday against Yale (21-11, 0-0) and Sunday against Brown (10-18, 0-0). Overall, the Tigers are 71-18-1 all-time against the two teams and have won 15 of the last 16 in the combined series.
Arms race: Runs will be even more precious than usual on Saturday as the league's top two pitching staffs meet. Entering the week, Princeton and Yale were the only two teams with ERAs under 2.00, with Princeton now at 1.78 and Yale at 1.82. The Tigers have a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 6:1, by far the best in the league.
More arms: Five of the top six pitchers by ERA are in Yale or Princeton uniforms. Erin Snyder (8-3, 0.92 ERA) and Kristen Schaus (7-5, 1.89) are likely to start for the Tigers with Peggy Hunt (6-2, 1.21) and Rebecca Wojciak (7-4, 1.72) as Yale's probable starters.
Swing and a miss: Snyder and Schaus are the Ivy League's top two strikeout pitchers by a considerable margin. Schaus has a league-best 118 Ks in 88 2/3 innings. Snyder is second wih 103 Ks in 68 2/3. Entering the week, the next-highest total belonged to Columbia's Jackie Adelfio, who had 86 in a league-high 113 innings of work. Among the league's top 15 arms by ERA, no pitcher aside from Snyder and Schaus averages a strikeout an inning.
Rookies rule: Princeton's Kathryn Welch and Yale's Megan Enyeart lead their respective teams in hitting, both as freshmen. Welch is hitting .343, 45 points ahead of the next-highest teammate to start most of Princeton's games, senior Cristina Cobb-Adams. Enyeart is hitting .364, 35 points ahead of sophomore Courtney Blachford. One to watch for: Brown senior Mary Seid is hitting .407 and entered the week as the Ivy League's top hitter and top base stealer, reaching on 10 of 12 attempts. Among teammates, she leads freshman Kaitlyn Laabs by 43 points.
Streaky streaky: Princeton has won eight in a row against Brown. In other eight-related streaks, Welch and Cobb-Adams each picked up a hit at Lehigh and each carries an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend. During her streak, Welch is 12 for 24 (.500) with seven RBI, two doubles and a home run, raising her average from .279 to .343 over the span. Snyder had an eight-game hit streak snapped at Lehigh.
Getting it started: Penn and Princeton started off the Ivy schedule last weekend, but the rest of the league starts this weekend. While Penn and Princeton host Yale and Brown, Columbia and Cornell host Harvard and Dartmouth.
Catch 'em while you can: Princeton has just seven home dates this year but will be home this weekend and next for Ivy contests. Columbia and Cornell stop by 1895 Field next weekend, while a couple of Big East schools, Seton Hall (Apr. 19) and St. John's (Apr. 29) round out the home schedule.