Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Cornell (Game 1)
Players Mentioned
Softball Splits with South Champ Cornell on Senior Day
May 02, 2010 | Softball
On the field, that's not necessarily how it played out.
The Tigers, who were swept by Cornell just two days ago in Ithaca, took the first game Sunday 4-2 before putting on a riveting comeback attempt that fell just short 7-6 in the nightcap.
With the split, Princeton was able to hold on to its Ivy League record from 2008 of 18 league wins, as the Big Red finish 17-3 in conference play and 33-11 overall. Princeton finishes 12-32 overall and 6-14 in league play.
Cornell and Harvard clinched the Ivy South and Ivy North divisional championships respectively, and the Big Red will host the Ivy League Championship Series, a best-of-three event, next weekend to determine the Ivy League champion and winner of the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Sunday's twinbill also marked the last games of the collegiate careers of Princeton's four seniors, Collette Abbott, Jamie Lettire, Ellen Scott and Kelsey Quist. Three of the four got hits and though Lettire went 0 for 2 at the plate, she didn't get many chances to swing the bat thanks to Cornell issuing her five walks. Lettire did get the pitching win in the opener, holding the Big Red scoreless until the sixth inning.
Game 1: Princeton 4, Cornell 2
The Tigers opened Sunday by capitalizing on Cornell's defensive lapses in the fourth inning to score three runs and hold on for a 4-2 win.
Sarah Rounsifer's two out smash to the fence in left-center field brought home two of Princeton's three runs in the fourth, an inning that saw Cornell commit three errors, and Kelsey Quist homered in the fifth to put the Tigers ahead 4-0.
Quist's home run was her team-best 11th of the season and gave her 37 for her career, one behind Lettire for the program's career lead at 38.
With two outs in the sixth, Cornell rallied against Lettire, who gave up a walk and a single before pinch-hitter Ali Tomlinson's two-run double halved the lead. Lettire got the next batter, Alyson Intihar, to fly out and retired the Big Red in order in the seventh for the win.
Game 2: Cornell 7, Princeton 6
The lead changed three times in the nightcap Sunday, with Cornell holding it last for a 7-6 win despite a spirited comeback attempt by Princeton.
Princeton led 2-0 early after a first-inning sacrifice fly from Lettire and a run-scoring single from Rounsifer, who was 5 for 7 on the day.
In what was the day's first lead change, Cornell hit Liza Kuhn in her two-plus innings of work to take a 4-2 edge, but Lettire came in and settled the Big Red while the Tigers began to chip away.
A bases-loaded walk to Quist put Princeton within 4-3, but Cornell's gamble by giving Quist nothing to hit paid off when the Tigers ended the inning without closing the gap.
After Cornell added another in the fourth to pull ahead 5-3, Princeton warmed to Cornell reliever Lauren Marx in the fifth. A Rounsifer leadoff single and a walk to Candace Button set the table for Nicole Ontiveros to double both home, and the game was tied. Scott followed with a double, and Princeton had a 6-5 lead before anyone was out in the fifth.
Scott, however, was out at third trying to stretch her hit into a triple, and the Tigers scored no more in that inning or the rest of the way.
Cornell retook the lead in the sixth with a pair of runs against Lettire, who figured prominently in the bottom of the seventh as Princeton tried to win the season's final game at '95 Field.
With Ontiveros and Scott on base, Cornell elected to walk Lettire intentionally, instead pitching to Quist. At the end of an eight-pitch, full-count at-bat, Quist popped up to the right side, allowing Cornell to escape with a win that ended up allowing it to host next weekend's ILCS.