AMHERST, Mass. -- The Princeton softball team will begin its eighth NCAA
Regional Friday at the
University
of Massachusetts with a 5
p.m. game against the host Minutewomen in the double-elimination, four-team
bracket.
With a win, Princeton would
face the Stanford/Lehigh (2:30 Friday) winner Saturday at noon. Otherwise, the
Tigers will face the Stanford/Lehigh loser at 2:30 Saturday for the right to
stay in the tournament and play a second game Saturday.
The two teams that survive Saturday will play Sunday at 1
p.m. with a second game following, if necessary, for a bid in a best-of-three
Super Regional against the winner of the College Station
(Texas)
Regional.
No. 8: Princeton's 2008
NCAA tournament appearance is its eighth all-time, all since 1994. The Tigers
advanced to the tournament three straight seasons from 1994-96 and are in a
current stretch of playing in the NCAAs in five of the last seven seasons
(2002-03, 2005-06, 2008).
No. 17: The Ivy League title that earned Princeton
the NCAA bid is the program's 17th, all since 1983.
History with UMass: Princeton
holds a 10-7 advantage over the Minutewomen, but the teams haven't met since
April 1, 2000. The teams inaugurated UMass' new (and current) field that day with
a doubleheader split. In Amherst, Princeton is 4-3 against UMass.
Postseason in Amherst:
Princeton came to the NCAA Regional in Amherst
in 1996, sweeping Boston
University and UMass to
advance to the Women's College World Series.
History with Lehigh: Princeton is 28-7 all-time against
Lehigh, a team Princeton faced just on April 22 in Bethlehem, falling 3-1. The Tigers defeated
Lehigh 3-1 in the NCAA Tucson Regional in 2005 in the teams' only postseason
meeting.
History with Stanford: The series with the Cardinal has much
less history as the teams have met only three times, all since 2005 and all at
Stanford. Princeton won the first but Stanford
won in 2006 and on March 22, 2008, when Cardinal pitcher Ashley Chinn tossed a
five-inning perfect game in a 10-0 win.
In the postseason: Princeton
is 8-14 all-time in the NCAA tournament and will be looking for its first
postseason win since the Lehigh victory in 2005. In 2006, Louisiana
State and North Carolina State
took games from the Tigers at the Baton Rouge Regional.
Honors, awards: Princeton
received nine mentions on the three All-Ivy teams when they were announced last
week. Four players earned first-team honors, including first baseman Jamie
Lettire, designated player Kathryn Welch, outfielder Kelsey Quist and pitcher
Kristen Schaus. Schaus was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year and Lettire
the league's Co-Player of the Year. Megan Weidrick was named to the second
team, and Collette Abbott, Kristin Arguedas, Michelle Tolfa and Beth Dalmut
were given honorable mention. Welch, Lettire and Quist were named first-team
All-Northeast Region by the NFCA this week, and Schaus collected second-team
honors.
