Princeton University Athletics
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Softball's Upset Bid of No. 8/11 Oklahoma Falls Short
March 16, 2008 | Softball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Princeton led twice over the nationally ranked Oklahoma softball team Sunday morning in Sacramento, Calif., but the Sooners came through late and escaped with a 4-3 win.
The hard-luck Tigers, who have had three games slip away in the sixth or seventh innings at Sacramento State's Capital Classic, dropped to 3-9 on the season and 1-4 in Sacramento on the spring break trip. Princeton will have Monday and Tuesday off before meeting Pacific Wednesday for two games and competing in Stanford's tournament Thursday through next Sunday.
"I think we're starting to believe that we have the talent to win," Princeton head coach Trina Salcido said of the near-miss. "Experiences like this are going to pay off when we get into Ivy League play."
Kristen Schaus (1-8) gave up eight hits and struck out eight in her complete-game effort. Schaus, a senior, now has 733 career strikeouts as she continues her pursuit of the school record held by former teammate Erin Snyder '06 at 819.
Oklahoma (25-7) entered the week ranked No. 8 in the USA Softball poll and No. 11 in the NFCA coaches poll.
Kathryn Welch blasted a solo shot in the fourth inning to open up the scoring and Princeton held the lead until Oklahoma rallied in the bottom of the fifth. The Sooners, who had just three base runners through the first four innings, had four hits in the sixth and converted two runs to take a 2-1 lead heading into the sixth.
Princeton was able to drop in three singles of its own in the sixth and take advantage of an Oklahoma misplay in centerfield to move runners along. Kelsey Quist scored when Jamie Lettire's single spent too much time in the outfield, and Kristin Arguedas the placed a base hit into shallow right. That picked up a hustling Quist and gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead, six defensive outs from the upset.
But Oklahoma responded once more in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff home run, a walk, a single and two hit batters combined to push across two runs and allow the Sooners to retake a 4-3 lead. The Tigers showed life in the seventh when Collette Abbott turned a ball in shallow right field into a double, but Abbott was picked off second base for the inning's second out.