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Princeton Softball Drops Opener to Liberty, 9-4
March 02, 2007 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Liberty's Jessica Moore accounted for five of the Flames' seven RBIs with a pair of home runs as Liberty spoiled the Princeton's softball team's season opener, 9-4, at the University of North Carolina's Tar Heel Invitational Friday afternoon.
The Flames improved to 5-3 while the Tigers dropped their first game at the UNC tournament for the second straight year.
Kristen Schaus got into trouble early when Moore cashed in a first-inning, leadoff infield hit and a walk with a three-run home run just right of straightaway centerfield for a 3-0 Flames lead. Schaus retired the next three in order, but the Tigers were in a hole from the start.
Another walk put the Tigers down 4-0 in the top of the third. Liberty's J'nae Jefferson received a one-out walk and came around to score from second on Ashley Williams' two-out single.
Princeton's bats got going in the bottom of the third as three of the six Tiger hitters in the inning got hits. With runners on the corners, Kathryn Welch snuck one just inside the third-base bag and down the line, allowing Lauren Bierman to score. But with Welch on first, Jackie Araneo on second and one out, the Tigers stranded the pair with a foul pop and a groundout, still trailing 4-1.
Moore's second home run came in the top of the fifth when she tagged the left-field foul pole for a solo home run that regained Liberty's four-run lead. The senior was Liberty's second-leading hitter on the season and finished the game with a .464 average
Though the Tigers were outhit, 12-9, Princeton's hitters had only three strikeouts. Schaus, meanwhile, fanned 12, but allowed 10 hits and five walks. Eight of Liberty's nine runs were earned as Schaus threw 144 pitches in her season debut.
Seven Tigers split the team's nine hits with Araneo and Calli Jo Varner each picking up a pair.
"I was pleased with our offense for our first outing," Princeton head coach Maureen Barron said. "Our defense played like it was our first day outside even though our expectations were higher. If we had played better defensively, we would have been able to support Kris (Schaus) better. There were some innings where she was very sharp."
Liberty starter Sarah Ellis worked 4 2/3 innings before being lifted in the fifth with Tigers on the corners and a three-run lead. New pitcher Sarah Swor got the Flames out of the inning by retiring Beth Dalmut on a comebacker that stranded both Princeton runners.
Ellis allowed two runs, both earned, on five hits and three walks with a strikeout.
Princeton had narrowed the deficit to 5-2 in that inning when Welch scored pinch runner Ellen Scott on a one-out sacrifice fly following a walk and an outfield hit by Araneo.
Liberty pushed the lead to 9-2 in the top of the sixth, getting three hits and two walks in the frame while also benefitting from a dropped fly ball in the sun in left field. Moore and Williams each picked up an RBI in the inning.
Samantha O'Hara brought home Princeton's third run in the bottom of the sixth when she scored Larkin Brogan, pinch running after Varner's double, from second with a double of her own just inside the foul line in left.
Varner finished the game in the circle and allowed two hits in a scoreless inning of work. Liberty's Swor worked 2 1/3 and allowed a hit and a walk including Varner's RBI double that scored Beth Dalmut for Princeton's fourth run.
The Tigers will continue pool play when they face Marshall Saturday at 10 a.m. The Thundering Herd were 12-5 winners over Rhode Island in the other Pool B game Friday.