Princeton University Athletics
Ivy Champs: Softball Sweeps Harvard for League Title, NCAA Bid
May 03, 2008 | Softball
PRINCETON -- In seven weeks, the Princeton softball team went from losing 17 of its first 20 games to having a much better title: Ivy League Champions.
Since flying back from a brutal spring break trip to California that saw Princeton drop 12 of 13 contests, the Tigers have won 22 of their last 27 games. The lumps taken against teams like California, Stanford and Oklahoma on that spring trip turned into an Ivy League season that saw Princeton post a league-record 18 wins against only two losses.
The week that ended Saturday afternoon on Class of 1895 Field with 4-2 and 5-1 wins over Ivy North champion Harvard in the Ivy League Championship Series saw smaller-scale turnarounds of its own. Last Sunday on the same patch of earth, the Tigers climbed out of six-run and five-run deficits in game three of a four-game set to win against Cornell, only to fall behind in its final at-bat in the series finale. Princeton pulled off the needed win over the Big Red in dramatic, walk-off home run fashion to win the Ivy South division.
That brought the Tigers to today. Yet again, Princeton would need a comeback to make a return trip to an NCAA tournament in which it had competed seven times before, and to gain an Ivy League title the Tigers have had bestowed upon them 16 times in their history.
"I'm just so happy for the team," Princeton coach Trina Salcido said. "For them to be able to do this, coming back after the rough start we had, I'm just so proud of them. They put in a ton of effort and stayed hungry during the Ivy season. This is a tremendous reward for them."
Game 1: Princeton 4, Harvard 2
Jamie Lettire rebounded from giving up two solo home runs in the first two innings to quiet the Harvard offense over the last five frames and help Princeton recover for a 4-2, game-one win.
Ellen Macadam and Hayley Bock provided the two home runs for the Crimson, but Megan Weidrick crushed her sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the third to tie it up at 2-2. After a two-inning stalemate, Princeton was finally able to string hits together against a trio of Crimson pitchers.
A leadoff single by Weidrick in the sixth excused Harvard starter Dana Roberts (7-4) from the game, but reliever Margaux Black fared no better. Black allowed back-to-back doubles to Kathryn Welch and Kelsey Quist, giving the Tigers the 4-2 lead before she, too, was excused in favor of Shelly Madick.
Lettire (8-3) didn't allow a runner past second base over her last 22 Harvard batters. She finished with five hits allowed, four walks and four strikeouts.
Game 2: Princeton 5, Harvard 1
After winning game one in the circle, Lettire contributed most at the plate in game two. She popped a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Tigers a four-run lead and spark a celebratory atmosphere at '95 Field for the 5-1 Ivy-clinching victory.
Kristen Schaus (10-15) took her turn quieting the Harvard bats as the senior struck out eight and allowed four hits without a walk to clinch an NCAA berth in her senior season. Schaus and Lettire each made alterations to the Princeton record book in game two, with Lettire's home run as her 14th on the season, tying the Princeton single-season record held by Melissa Finley '05, and Schaus moved past former teammate Erin Snyder '06 with 824 career strikeouts.
The four-run first inning rally began with two outs on a Welch single and a Quist hit-by-pitch. Lettire followed with the home run and two batters later, Beth Dalmut had a run-scoring double for the 4-0 lead.
No Crimson runner got into scoring position during the first five innings of Schaus' impressive performance. A sacrifice fly brought in a leadoff double in the seventh for Harvard's only run. Earlier in the seventh, with Harvard as the designated home team, Princeton scored its final run when Welch singled home Ellen Scott, who got aboard on a pinch-hit single of her own.
The Tigers will find out their NCAA tournament destination on ESPNU next Sunday, May 11, at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
