Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell (Game 1)
Players Mentioned
Softball Splits at Cornell, Falls Out of Divisional Race
April 27, 2007 | Softball
ITHACA, N.Y. -- At least one thing was certain heading into Friday's doubleheader between Princeton and Cornell, the two teams to capture the last six Ivy League softball titles. While both entered the day still alive to represent the Ivy in this year's postseason, one would see that chance end.
Despite a first-game output of nine runs and 11 hits in a 9-2 Princeton win, the Tigers dropped the second game 12-10, eliminating Princeton from a chance at the Ivy South title.
Princeton (21-28, 11-7 Ivy) needed to win all four games over Cornell to force a one-game playoff with Penn, idle this weekend, that would decide the Ivy South's champion and representative in the Ivy League Championship Series May 5-6.
Cornell (31-12, 12-6) lost its margin for error with the game one defeat and now must sweep a doubleheader at Princeton Sunday to force a one-game playoff with Penn. If needed, that game would take place Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Game 1: Princeton 9, Cornell 2
Both Kristen Schaus and Jenn Meunier struggled early, but the Tigers cashed in on Meunier's mistakes while Schaus got out of her first-inning jam and guided Princeton to a 9-2 win in the opener.
All nine Tigers batted in the first inning, getting five hits off Meunier, none bigger than Jamie Lettire's one-out, three-run home run that scored singles by Brianna Moreno and Kathryn Welch. It was Lettire's sixth home run on the season. With two runners on later in the inning, Jackie Araneo pushed the lead to 4-0 with a run-scoring single.
When Cornell loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a hit batter in the bottom of the first, it looked like Princeton's early advantage might slip away. But Schaus responded with back-to-back strikeouts, and Cornell stayed off the board.
After giving up two hits in the second inning, Meunier retired eight straight before giving up another run in the fifth. Welch reached on a single up the middle, and three batters later, Calli Jo Varner dropped a single into left-center to score Welch for a 5-0 lead.
Schaus sailed through until the fifth inning, when she lost her no-hit bid on a Jessy Berkey home run that cut the lead back to four runs. The home run was Berkey's fifth on the year. Sarah Ruben then followed with a double, but after a strikeout, Schaus got out of the inning when Devon March lined into a double play.
Princeton moved the game into run-rule territory with four runs in the sixth, all with two out. Welch started the rally with a single, completing a four-hit opener, and Lettire and Erin Miller reached on back-to-back gaffes by shortstop Samantha Hare. Calli Jo Varner immediately made those errors costly, driving her team-leading seventh home run over the centerfield fence for a 9-1 lead.
Cornell stayed alive to play the seventh when Alyson Intihar homered to left-center, her 10th on the year, cutting the deficit to seven runs at 9-2.
Meunier (16-7) left after six innings, having given up 11 hits with a walk, earning five of the nine runs on her watch. She struck out two. Dana Robbins threw the last inning, walking one.
Schaus (10-12) finished a four-hitter while walking three with nine strikeouts.
Game 2: Cornell 12, Princeton 10
Princeton closed a five-run deficit in the sixth inning but Cornell drew three straight bases-loaded walks in the bottom half of the frame to hang on to its postseason hopes and win 12-10.
Elise Menaker's first of two home runs in the nightcap came off Jamie Lettire with two out in the first, putting Cornell ahead 3-0.
Princeton tied it with a pair of two-out home runs in the third, the first by Kathryn Welch, immediately followed by a solo blast from Lettire, her eighth on the year, to even the game at 3-3.
But the tie didn't last long, as Menaker's second home run in as many at-bats and eighth on the year gave Cornell a 5-3 lead.
Princeton got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth, when Calli Jo Varner walked to lead off the inning and Ellen Scott, pinch-running for Varner, came home three batters later on a two-out wild pitch.
Lettire left after the third, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out three and earning the five runs on her tenure.
Varner entered in the circle for the fourth and ran into immediate trouble, giving up three hits and a walk while credited for a third of an inning as Cornell took a 9-4 lead. Alyson Intihar and Jenna Campagnolo picked up RBIs off Varner and Menaker had her sixth RBI on the game with a single off Kristen Schaus, who entered in relief.
But the Tigers had one last run in them, one good enough to take the lead with a six-run sixth, chasing Cornell starter Haley Mirrer from the game.
All six runs scored with two outs as four straight Tigers kept the rally going with hits. Welch's home run, her second of the game and fifth of the year, punctuated the rally and put Princeton ahead 10-9.
After Erin Miller singled and Varner walked to start the inning, the next two Princeton batters went down. But O'Hara, Stephanie Steel and Brianna Moreno provided RBI hits leading up to Welch's shot to close the five-run gap. Eleven Tigers batted in the inning as Princeton took a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Mirrer left after nine Tigers had batted. She was charged with 10 runs, all earned, on 11 hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Still, the Big Red fought back. On two singles and an error, all with one out, Cornell loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth. After a strikeout, three straight Big Red batters followed with walks, enabling Cornell to pull ahead, 12-10, before another strikeout stopped the rally.
Princeton couldn't stage another comeback in the top of the seventh, and Jenn Meunier (17-7), who entered to stop the Tiger sixth, picked up the win. Meunier finished with one hit and a strikeout in an inning and a third.
Schaus (10-13) took the loss, giving up four hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings. None of the three runs scored in that time were earned as they all came with two outs following the error.
The Tigers and Big Red will get together Sunday at noon at Class of 1895 Field as Cornell will need a sweep to keep its postseason hopes going.