Ivy South-Leading Softball Team Finishes Four-Game Sweep at Penn

Sunday, April 16

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 PM

Princeton University

17-13, 0

Penn

15-15, 0

Princeton

Penn

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Ivy South-Leading Softball Team Finishes Four-Game Sweep at Penn

April 16, 2017 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Completing its first four-game sweep of Penn in 11 all-time chances, the Princeton softball team picked up 4-2 and 12-8 wins Sunday in Philadelphia, keeping its lead in the Ivy South at three games and its overall lead in the Ivy by one game.

At 10-2 in the league, Princeton leads next weekend's opponent, Columbia, by three games in the division. Dartmouth, which finished its own four-game sweep of Brown to stay one game back of Princeton. Should Princeton and Dartmouth go on to win their divisions, the Tigers would have to finish at least a game clear of the Big Green in order to host the Ivy League Championship Series thanks to Dartmouth's doubleheader sweep of Princeton last weekend in Hanover.

Princeton had not won more than one game in any of the four four-game series it had played at Penn since the move to divisions in the Ivy in 2007. The Tigers have played either Penn or Columbia for four on the road every year since then, and only against Columbia in 2008 had Princeton completed a four-game road sweep.

In the opener, Princeton scored first, putting two on in the fourth with an Allison Harvey single and Mikayla Blaska on an unsuccessful fielder's choice. Keeley Walsh slammed a three-run home run to put the Tigers up 3-0, and though Leah Allen responded for Penn with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers never trailed. Marissa Reynolds picked up a Kylee Pierce base hit with a single of her own in the fifth to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead, and a Molly Oretsky solo homer in the bottom of the fifth was the last run of the game.

Keeley Walsh! 3-run HR, and the Tigers are up 3-0 through 3 1/2 at Penn. pic.twitter.com/v1o42k68PH
— Princeton Softball (@PUSoftball) April 16, 2017

Claire Klausner went the distance, giving up the two runs on six hits and a walk. Alexis Sargent took the loss for Penn.

In the nightcap, Princeton trailed for the first time on the series with a pair of first-inning singles setting the table for an Allen three-run home run. Princeton answered with a Reynolds home run to lead off the second, and after a Kaitlyn Waslawski single, Danielle Dockx hit a two-run homer to tie it at 3-3.

We are tied 3-3 after an inning and a half thanks to this solo shot from Marissa Reynolds... pic.twitter.com/NVvSiSpHzz
— Princeton Softball (@PUSoftball) April 16, 2017

...and this two-run shot from Danielle Dockx! pic.twitter.com/xUihWbMnPU
— Princeton Softball (@PUSoftball) April 16, 2017

Penn again pulled ahead in the bottom of the second, using four singles and an RBI groundout to plate three runs and take a 6-3 lead, but Princeton soon regained control. All with two out in the top of the third, reaching eight straight batters, all with two out, to score six runs. Walsh, Waslawski, Alex Viscusi and Megan Donahey each drove in a run during the rally, and Dockx drove home a pair.

Penn pulled within 9-7 in the bottom of the fourth with an Allen solo home run, and after Waslawski and Donahey doubles in the top of the fifth to get that run back for Princeton, Penn made it 10-8 on an Allen sacrifice fly in the last of the fifth. Princeton added a run in the sixth on a Walsh single and an error that picked up a Reynolds walk, and one in the seventh on a Blaska single that scored a Donahey double.

The Tigers started Erica Nori and used Ashley LaGuardia and Riley Wilkinson in relief with Nori also re-entering the game. LaGuardia picked up the win and Wilkinson, who matched Nori with 2 2/3 innings, earned her third save of the weekend. Mason Spichiger, who started and went 2 2/3 innings, took the loss for Penn.

Princeton will step away from Ivy League competition for the final time on the regular season when it hosts Lehigh for a pair Wednesday at 3 p.m. at '95 Field.