Softball Team Sweeps Columbia to Clinch Ivy Title Share, Playoff Series Bid

Saturday, April 30

New York, N.Y.

12:30 PM

Princeton University

23-14-2, 15-4

Columbia

12-24, 8-11

Princeton

Columbia

Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

Softball Team Sweeps Columbia to Clinch Ivy Title Share, Playoff Series Bid

April 30, 2022 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

A sweep in New York and a split in Boston delivered Princeton at least a share of the Ivy League title and a spot in the Ivy League Playoff Series on Saturday.

For its part, Princeton defeated Columbia 8-4 and 7-1 ensuring no worse than a tie for the Ivy League title, the program's league-best 20th and third in the last five seasons an Ivy title was awarded.

A win in Sunday's 12:30 p.m. regular-season finale at Columbia would deliver Princeton the outright Ivy title and the right to host the Ivy League Playoff Series May 13-14 as no other league team would be able to get to 17 league wins. Sunday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live scoring available here.

If Columbia wins, the only way Princeton would not host the Ivy League Playoff Series is if Dartmouth defeats Harvard on Sunday and sweeps its final series against Cornell next weekend, as the Big Green would then be 16-5 alongside Princeton and would hold the tiebreaker over Princeton thanks to the Big Green's series win over the Tigers in early April. Even so, Princeton would maintain a share of the Ivy League title as tiebreakers do not apply to determine Ivy title winners.

Princeton's opponent in the Ivy Playoff Series will be either Harvard or Dartmouth, as the winner of Sunday's game between those teams would max out at eight league losses, and every other team in the league already has nine.

In Saturday's opener against the Lions, Princeton got on the board in the second inning with back-to-back homers from Lauren Sablone and Sophia Marsalo, with Sablone's bringing home a leadoff walk to Haley Hoffman and Marsalo's as the first of her career to give Princeton a 3-0 lead.

The Lions tied it with three in the fifth, sending all nine batters to the plate for three walks and three hits. Abby Stuart had a two-run double and Lauren Apollaro had a run-scoring double of her own to make it 3-3.

Princeton got the lead right back in the sixth, with Hoffman getting on with a one-out single and scoring three batters later on a Sablone sacrifice fly. Princeton added to it with four in the seventh on three hits and a walk, as Serena Starks had an RBI hit, Hoffman brought one home with a sacrifice fly and Cate Bade making it 7-3 with an RBI groundout.

Columbia cashed in a leadoff walk with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the rally came no closer than 7-4. Ali Blanchard got the start and fanned 10 in 4 2/3 innings, allowing the three runs on four hits and a walk, while Molly Chambers went 2 1/3 innings and allowed an unearned run on four walks, striking out two.

In game two, Princeton broke through in the third wiht three runs on three hits and an error as Blanchard had a sacrifice fly to pick up a leadoff double for Ashley McDonald and Starks had a two-run single to score Sablone, who reached on the error, and Marsalo, who had a base hit. Princeton added a run in the fourth when McDonald had a sacrifice fly to pick up a leadoff single for Hoffman two batters earlier.

Columbia got its run in the fifth to pull within 4-1 as a leadoff double for Caroline Palys came home on an error, but Princeton got it right back in the sixth. Hoffman led off with a base hit and came home on a Sablone groundout three batters later, and in the seventh, Allison Ha followed a leadoff hit for Blanchard with a two-run homer to make it 7-1.

Alexis Laudenslager went the distance in the circle in game two, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk, striking out a career-high 12 batters to better her previous high by one from her 11-strikeout performance at Harvard on March 27.