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Penn (Game 1)
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Tigers, Big Red All Square in Ivy South as Softball Splits with Penn
April 20, 2008 | Softball
PRINCETON -- The Ivy-undefeated run came to an end for the Princeton softball team Sunday afternoon as Penn won game one, 7-2, before the Tigers bounced back and held on for a 7-6 win in game two.
Princeton, at 15-1 in Ivy play, fell into a tie for first place in the Ivy South with Cornell, which completed a four-game sweep of Columbia Sunday. Princeton and Cornell will play a four-game home-and-home series Friday and Sunday, starting in Ithaca. Whichever team wins the series will win the Ivy South title and host Harvard in a best-of-three series for the Ivy's NCAA berth. If the teams split, a one-game playoff will be played at a date and site to be determined.
"There were some times today when we were great and some times when we were sub-par," Princeton coach Trina Salcido said. "We weren't consistent. Against a good team like Penn, you can't play inconsistently."
Game 1: Penn 7, Princeton 2
For the second straight day, Penn scored a pair of runs in the first inning of game one. This time, however, the Quakers never gave the lead back, dealing Princeton its first loss of the Ivy League season.
Princeton starter Kristen Schaus (7-14) went the full seven, giving up seven hits and three walks, striking out four. Two singles and a hit batter helped Penn score the pair of first-inning runs and the Quakers used a pair of home runs later in the game to pad the lead.
Brittney Scott got one of those early runs back with her second home run of the season, a two-out solo shot that cut the deficit to 2-1 after two. Penn pushed it to 3-1 on two walks and a double, but the difference was once again only a run after Kathryn Welch hit her 10th home run in the season in the bottom of the third.
The Tigers wouldn't be able to close the gap. An Annie Kinsey home run in the top of the fourth quickly gave the Quakers a 6-2 lead, and Princeton advanced only two runners into scoring position the rest of the game. Alisha Prystowsky's seventh-inning homer gave Penn its final run.
Despite out-hitting Penn 8-7, Princeton wasn't able to string together enough hits off Quaker starter Jessie Lupardus (16-8), who fanned six Tigers and returned in relief in game two to keep the Tigers from a run-rule win.
Game 2: Princeton 7, Penn 6
Tiger starter Jamie Lettire (6-3) was strong through the first five innings, giving up only two hits and two walks as Princeton knocked Penn pitcher Emily Denstedt for a seven-run lead. But a late comeback by Penn made for some tense moments before Lettire was able to close it out.
Lettire hit her 10th home run of the year in the second inning, but it was merely a prelude to what the Tigers posted in the folllowing inning. Eleven Tigers batted in the third and six got hits with two more drawing walks. Kathryn Welch had a three-run double, Erin Miller picked up two runs with a double of her own and Lettire had another RBI to give Princeton a 7-0 lead.
Princeton had runners on second and third at the end of the six-run third and another runner at third base in the fifth, but didn't get the eighth run that would end the game after Penn had five at-bats. That allowed the game to continue, and Penn nearly took full advantage.
A two-out single, double and a Taylor Tieman home run brought Penn within 7-3 in the sixth, and five straight baserunners reached in the seventh inning while Penn cut the deficit to 7-6 before a flyout ended the threat.
Princeton will have a non-league doubleheader with Lehigh Tuesday afternoon before the showdown with Cornell begins Friday.