Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Brown (Game 1)
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Players Mentioned
Softball Tigers Run Out of Rallies, Split with Brown
March 29, 2009 | Softball
PRINCETON -- In what was the only Ivy League softball doubleheader played Sunday, the Princeton softball team settled for its second split in as many days, coming from behind for an 8-2 win in the opener but falling just short with a rally in a 2-1 loss.
The Tigers now stand at 2-2 in the Ivy League and 7-11 overall. Yale-Cornell, Dartmouth-Columbia and Harvard-Penn were all rained out and some or all will be made up Monday.
Jamie Lettire (3-3) pitched in both games, allowing four hits and three walks in the opener while striking out six. After the first inning, in which a Jackie Giovaniello double gave Brown (5-13, 1-3) a 2-0 lead, four Brown runners reached scoring position and all were put out or stranded there.
While Lettire was settling down in the opener, the Tiger bats simmered until exploding for six runs in the fourth inning. RBIs came from Nicole Ontiveros on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, on a single by Megan Weidrick and on Kathryn Welch's third home run of the season, a solo shot to start the inning. Three Brown errors helped the big inning occur, and five of the Princeton runs scored with two out.
The Tigers added two more runs in the sixth on Lettire's fourth home run of the season.
In the nightcap, missed opportunities cost the Tigers as Princeton left five runners in scoring position. Brown pulled ahead on back-to-back RBI hits by Kate Strobel and Kelsey Wilson in the third before Collette Abbott got one of the runs back with an RBI-triple in the fourth.
Princeton had solid chances to score in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn't convert. After a leadoff walk to Welch in the sixth, Kelsey Quist had a hard-luck leaping lineout in which Welch was doubled off second with the hit appearing to be ticketed for right field. In the seventh, Abbott started the inning by reeaching on a missed pickup at shortstop and Weidrick followed with a bunt single, but relief pitcher Michelle Moses, who took the loss in the first game, got the next three Tigers to earn the save.
Lettire allowed only two hits in four innings of relief, but the two runs scored off starter Michelle Tolfa (4-7) were enough for Brown to get its first win over Princeton since 2001.
Princeton will host Hofstra for a non-league single game Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. before resuming the Ivy season next weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth.