Back-to-Back Ivy Champs Set to Open 2018 in the Valley of the Sun

Friday, March 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

1:30 PM ET/11:30 AM MT

Princeton University

UNLV

Senior Danielle Dockx and the Tigers will get the 2018 season started Friday in Phoenix.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Back-to-Back Ivy Champs Set to Open 2018 in the Valley of the Sun

February 28, 2018 | Softball

Five games against UNLV, host Grand Canyon, South Dakota and Valparaiso will open the 2018 season for the back-to-back Ivy League champion Princeton softball team this weekend in Phoenix.

Live stats for all games, as well as a video link for the games against Grand Canyon, are available on the Tigers' schedule page here.

Princeton will get started against UNLV at 11:30 a.m. local time/1:30 p.m. Eastern Time Friday, followed by a game against Grand Canyon at 4:30 p.m. local time. Saturday, the Tigers will meet South Dakota at 11:30 a.m. local, followed by another game against Grand Canyon at 4:30 p.m. local. Sunday, the Tigers will wrap the weekend against Valparaiso at 9 a.m. local time.

UNLV has already played three weekends' worth of games to stand at 11-4, hitting .287 as a team and accruing a team ERA of 3.43. UNLV leads the all-time series against Princeton 2-0, though the teams haven't met since 2004. The Rebels enter the week ranked fifth in the nation in fielding percentage at .984 with pitcher Janine Petmecky standing 12th nationally with three shutouts.

GCU also has already played three weekends, standing at 9-8. The Antelopes were just short of knocking off then-No. 5 UCLA, falling 7-6 in a Feb. 19 game played in Cathedral City, Calif. GCU is hitting .312 as a team while the pitching staff has a collective 3.78 ERA. Princeton and GCU played twice in 2014, with the Antelopes winning both.

South Dakota will also play its fourth weekend of games this weekend, standing at 3-13. The Coyotes hit .278 as a team while the pitching staff has a 6.56 ERA. Princeton and USD have not met. USD's Emily Winckler has already hit six home runs this season to stand ninth nationally.

Valparaiso also started three weekends ago, but the Crusaders were away from competition last week and stand at 6-3. Valpo hits .287 as a team with a 2.73 ERA, and the Tigers and Crusaders have never met. Valpo's Emily Richardson is tied for first in the nation with a perfect ERA through 15 innings, and Jaymee Lawton is tied for first nationally in RBIs per game at 1.75.

Princeton was voted first in the Ivy League's first-annual preseason poll as voters predicted Princeton will win three straight Ivy titles for the first time since 1994-96. Though the Tigers graduated top hitter Marissa Reynolds (.436), they bring back three regulars who hit better than .300 last season in first-team All-Ivy League outfielder sophomore Megan Donahey (.377), 2017 Ivy League Rookie of the Year shortstop Allison Harvey (.317), and two-time All-Ivy junior first baseman Kaylee Grant (.310). In the circle, the Tigers will look to make up for the graduation losses of their two leading pitchers from a year ago in Erica Nori and 2017 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Claire Klausner, with senior Ashley LaGuardia as the most experienced returner with 217 career innings.