Princeton University Athletics
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Atop the Ivy South, Softball to Host Penn as Divisional Play Begins
April 14, 2016 | Softball
For the first time since 2008, the Princeton softball team will enter divisional play playing from ahead.
Princeton, at 4-4 in the Ivy after taking three of four from Yale and Brown last weekend to close Ivy North play, stands two games in front of Penn and Columbia and three in front of Cornell with 12 to play.
Speaking of Penn, the Quakers will be Princeton's opponent this weekend for four games over doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday, starting each day at 12:30 p.m. Admission at '95 Field is free of charge, and the games can be seen and heard on the Ivy League Digital Network.
Both games will be a part of Youth Softball Weekend, where softball players and teams are invited to attend and receive autographs from the Princeton players after each doubleheader. Sunday will be the program's annual Purple Game for Epilepsy Awareness in memory of Khristin Kyllo, a member of the Princeton softball Class of 2014. Fans are encouraged to wear purple Sunday as well.
Since returning from the team's spring trip to California, Princeton has won eight of 12 with three of the four losses coming by one run or in extra innings. Rookie Kaylee Grant was 9 of 16 at the plate last weekend, raising her batting average 52 points to .326 on the season and carrying a five-game hitting streak into the weekend. Classmate Keeley Walsh has a four-game hit streak entering the Penn series.
In the circle, all five of Princeton's pitchers saw time last weekend with sophomore Ashley La Guardia going 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA and rookie Riley Wilkinson had a win and a save with a 1.11 ERA.
Along with being the last time Princeton entered the first of the three Ivy South series leading the division, 2008 was also the last time Princeton won the division and the last time Princeton won the series from Penn. The Quakers have taken at least three games in each of the seven series since.
This time, Penn enters the weekend having snapped a five-game skid with a win over Drexel Wednesday. While Princeton was at Yale and Brown last weekend, Penn made the trip to Dartmouth and Harvard with none of the four games going seven innings. Each opponent had a run-rule win over Penn and had to go to extra innings to beat the Quakers.
Penn's Alexis Sargent is the Ivy's ERA leader on the season overall at 2.03 and the league's strikeout leader at 88. Sam Pederson is one of five Quakers hitting better than .300, entering the weekend with a .370 average.
After the pivotal weekend, Princeton will head to Lehigh for a non-league twinbill Wednesday before returning to Ivy play next Saturday and Sunday at Columbia.
|
Doubleheaders |
 Princeton |
 Penn |
| 2016 Record | 11-21, 4-4 Ivy | 14-16, 2-6 Ivy |
| Top Hitter (by avg., min 2.5 PA/team gm.) | Kaylee Grant, .326, 29-89 | Sam Pederson, .370, 30-81 |
| Team BA | .260 | .278 |
| Top Pitcher (by IP) | Claire Klausner, 3-5, 4.74 ERA, 65 IP | Alexis Sargent, 8-5, 2.03, 86 IP |
| Team ERA | 4.05 | 4.01 |
| Home Runs | 11 | 11 |
| Series Notes | Last won the series in 2008 | Has taken at least three of four in the last seven series |