Princeton University Athletics
Ivy Champion Princeton Softball Visits Rider for Last Pre-NCAA Twinbill
May 04, 2006 | Softball
May 4, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - With the NCAA tournament two weekends away, the Princeton softball team (31-16) takes on Rider (23-24) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday. The Tigers then will wait eight days until they find out their NCAA destination and until May 19 before they play in the national tournament.
Long history: Princeton is 36-11 all-time against Rider with the series extending back to 1983. Last season, Princeton swept a pair at Class of 1895 Field over the Broncs after splitting at Rider in 2004.
Staying sharp: April 24, Princeton ended its Ivy League season, clinching its 16th Ivy title and seventh NCAA tournament bid. Problem is, NCAA Regional play doesn't begin until May 18, a break of 24 days. In the interim, the Tigers stayed focused by playing Villanova April 27 (sweep), St. John's April 29 (split) and St. Joseph's April 30 (sweep). The Tigers could improve to 7-1 in its NCAA tune-up games this weekend at Rider.
Ruling the Ivy: Princeton topped the pitching and hitting totals for the Ivy season in conference games, which wrapped up for most teams April 29. The Tigers hit .346 in Ivy contests, better than Columbia's .272. Princeton's staff carried a 1.03 ERA, better than Cornell's 1.80.
Individually, though the Ivy League has no official batting champion, Kathryn Welch toasted league schools for a .426 batting average. Jackie Araneo was right behind at .424. With Amanda Erickson at .405, it gave Princeton three of the five players to hit over .400 in league play. In the circle, Erin Snyder had an 0.73 ERA and Kristen Schaus was at 1.33, sandwiching Jenn Meunier's 1.21 ERA for Cornell. In an even more eye-popping statistic, Snyder struck out 94 Ivy batters and walked only one. That worked out to Ks-per-seven average of 13.80 and a walks-per-seven average of 0.15. No other pitcher among the ERA leaders averaged under a walk per seven or more than nine strikeouts per game.
All-Ivy: The announcement of the All-Ivy teams and awards does not come out until May 12, but Princeton is a strong candidate to carry several all-league honors and even some special honors. In conference play, Welch, a strong Ivy Rookie of the Year candidate, led the league in hits (20) and runs scored (11, tied with Cristina Cobb-Adams) and is in the top 10 in total bases (tied for fifth), on-base percentage (fourth) and slugging percentage (seventh).
Snyder is also a strong candidate to win her second straight Ivy Pitcher of the Year award. In addition to the high number of strikeouts and almost non-existant walks, Snyder shut out three Ivy teams and held league opponents to an Ivy-low .127 batting average.
On Rider: Jen Cullen is the team's batting leader among starters with a .377 average. She also has nine of the team's 29 stolen bases. Desiree Harbaugh (.220) has five of the team's 21 home runs. Though four pitchers have seen action for the Broncs, Heather Beintema has shouldered 52 percent of the innings. She carries a 16-9 record and a 1.96 ERA into the weekend.
Get 'em where you can: Snyder has allowed more than two runs in a game, earned or unearned, only once all season in 20 appearances. Her season-high for hits allowed in a game is seven, to fifth-ranked Stanford. Snyder has also not had an ERA above 1.00 since March 30.
NCAA-ranked: Princeton continued to put up impressive statistical rankings in this week's release of national stats by the NCAA. The Tigers are the third-ranked team in Division I by fielding percentage, seeing success 97.9 percent of the time. Princeton's 1.53 ERA is 19th in the country, and the Tigers entered the doubles-per-game rankings at 1.45 per contest.
Individually, Snyder's 11.9 Ks-per-seven average is fifth in the land, with Schaus 19th at 9.9. Snyder's 0.83 ERA is 11th in Division I, while Stephanie Steel continued to make contact, moving up nine spots to the fifth-toughest player in the country to strike out. Steel has had 134 at-bats and only five Ks.
Is that bat aluminum? Or Steel?: Steel has Princeton's longest current hitting streak at nine games and the junior centerfielder has had two hits in each of the last three games.
Ivy honored: The Ivy League issued its last player, rookie and pitcher of the week honors for the 2006 season Tuesday and Princeton completed a yearlong streak of having at least one player honored every week for a total of 11 of the 24 awards. This week, Snyder was honored for the fourth time as Ivy Pitcher of the Week, giving Princeton five of the eight honors as Schaus also picked up one this year. Steel was the league's player of the week, adding to the award Calli Jo Varner earned earlier this season. Welch (three) and Araneo (one) have combined to nab half of the league's rookie honors this year.
Find out when they do: Princeton learns of its NCAA Championship destination Sunday, May 14 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPNEWS.