Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Lehigh (Game 1)
Players Mentioned
Softball Splits with Lehigh
April 06, 2011 | Softball
PRINCETON -- After a tough first game at the plate that led to a 4-0 loss against Lehigh, the Princeton softball team rebounded with a 3-2 win in the nightcap behind solid pitching from Liza Kuhn at Class of 1895 Field Tuesday afternoon.
Lehigh's Ashley Quigley (7-8) and Rebecca Bliss teamed for a five-hit shutout in the opener with Alex Peyton's 2-for-4 game leading the Tigers at the plate. Clutch hits were a tough get for Princeton in the first game as the Tigers left eight runners in scoring position.
The Mountain Hawks (17-15) broke through with two runs in the second inning against Peyton (2-9), both coming on a two-RBI single by Audra Wood. Lehigh's Alex Cueva then doubled home another run in the fourth, and Jennifer Colquhoun's solo home run in the seventh inning made the 4-0 final.
Princeton (11-15) got it going early in the nightcap when Peyton doubled home a leadoff hit by Nicole Ontiveros to put the Tigers on the board. Kelsey VandeBergh doubled home Candy Button in the third inning, and VandeBergh came home to score on an error off a Peyton batted ball to make it 3-0.
The Tigers went quiet on offense over the last three frames against Lehigh reliever Rebecca Bliss, who took over for starter Kelsey Lee (2-4), but Liza Kuhn (6-2) was able to preserve the complete-game victory. After stranding all six runners to reach over the first five innings, Kuhn gave up a solo home run to Liz Lucas in the sixth to make it 3-1 before getting three of the next four batters to end the threat. In the seventh, Lehigh used two singles and a fielder's choice to move around another run, but Kuhn's ninth strikeout of the game ended it.
While setting a career high for the sophomore Kuhn, the nine strikeouts tie a season high for Princeton in a game after Peyton fanned nine against Hampton on March 19.
Princeton will return to Ivy League play Friday at Harvard with a 2 p.m. twinbill before continuing to Dartmouth Saturday for a pair of games to start at 12:30 p.m. The Tigers enter the league's second weekend at 2-2, one game behind Cornell in the Ivy South division.