Saturday, April 22
Princeton, N.J.
12:00 PM
Princeton University
21-15, 14-3
8
vs
5
Harvard
22-14-1, 12-5
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2
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4
5
6
7
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H
E
Harvard
1
0
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2
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5
7
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Princeton
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4
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8
10
2
Princeton recognized its senior class of Ashley McDonald, Adrienne Chang, Lauren Murphy, Alexis Laudenslager and Serena Starks before the doubleheader.
Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC
Tigers Split with Harvard, Enter Final Ivy Weekend Atop League
April 22, 2023 | Softball
Following Saturday's split with Harvard, the magic number is two for the Princeton softball team entering next weekend's final Ivy League series at Dartmouth.
With the 8-5 win and 6-5 loss, Princeton is a game up on Harvard with three to play, and having won two of three in the series over the Crimson, Princeton needs only to finish tied with Harvard at the end of next weekend to claim both a share of the Ivy League title and hosting duties for the Ivy League Tournament. Any number of Princeton wins or Harvard losses that add up to two next weekend will get it done for the Tigers, who will head to Dartmouth while Harvard hosts Columbia to close the league season.
Harvard opened the day with a run on two hits, an error and a sacrifice fly to lead 1-0 entering Princeton's first at-bat, but the Tigers scored the next eight runs and never trailed. An error put Serena Starks on in the bottom of the first and Adrienne Chang singled Starks home to tie it, and in the second inning, Lauren Sablone walked before Ashley McDonald tripled her home and Starks beat out an infield single to put Princeton up 3-1.
The lead grew to 4-1 in the third when an Allison Ha hit and a walk to Chang put two on for Sophia Marsalo to single Ha home. A big fourth inning saw Princeton push the lead to 8-1 on four hits, a hit batter and a walk as Ha and Marsalo each had two-RBI hits.
Harvard cut the lead to 8-3 in the fifth on two hits, a walk and an error, and the gap shrunk to 8-5 in the sixth on a hit, three walks and a sacrifice fly.Â
Molly Chambers, who entered the circle in the sixth for starter Alexis Laudenslager, picked up the save, allowing just a walk in two innings of work.Â
The second game saw Harvard benefit from a five-run first inning and ultimately never lose the lead. Three singles, two walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly added up to the big inning for the Crimson.
After Harvard pushed the lead to 6-0 in the second on an error and a base hit, Princeton got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Julia Dumais started the inning being hit by a pitch, Marsalo followed with a base hit, and Cate Bade followed that with another hit to pick up Dumais and make it 6-1. Three batters later, a Starks base hit got Marsalo home and made it 6-2.
It remained 6-2 until Princeton's last at-bat of the day. A Sablone hit and three errors got home two runs to make it 6-4, and Chang added a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5 before Harvard held on for the win.
Before returning to Ivy play next weekend at Dartmouth, Princeton will play a non-conference doubleheader at Villanova on Tuesday.
With the 8-5 win and 6-5 loss, Princeton is a game up on Harvard with three to play, and having won two of three in the series over the Crimson, Princeton needs only to finish tied with Harvard at the end of next weekend to claim both a share of the Ivy League title and hosting duties for the Ivy League Tournament. Any number of Princeton wins or Harvard losses that add up to two next weekend will get it done for the Tigers, who will head to Dartmouth while Harvard hosts Columbia to close the league season.
Harvard opened the day with a run on two hits, an error and a sacrifice fly to lead 1-0 entering Princeton's first at-bat, but the Tigers scored the next eight runs and never trailed. An error put Serena Starks on in the bottom of the first and Adrienne Chang singled Starks home to tie it, and in the second inning, Lauren Sablone walked before Ashley McDonald tripled her home and Starks beat out an infield single to put Princeton up 3-1.
The lead grew to 4-1 in the third when an Allison Ha hit and a walk to Chang put two on for Sophia Marsalo to single Ha home. A big fourth inning saw Princeton push the lead to 8-1 on four hits, a hit batter and a walk as Ha and Marsalo each had two-RBI hits.
Harvard cut the lead to 8-3 in the fifth on two hits, a walk and an error, and the gap shrunk to 8-5 in the sixth on a hit, three walks and a sacrifice fly.Â
Molly Chambers, who entered the circle in the sixth for starter Alexis Laudenslager, picked up the save, allowing just a walk in two innings of work.Â
The second game saw Harvard benefit from a five-run first inning and ultimately never lose the lead. Three singles, two walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly added up to the big inning for the Crimson.
After Harvard pushed the lead to 6-0 in the second on an error and a base hit, Princeton got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Julia Dumais started the inning being hit by a pitch, Marsalo followed with a base hit, and Cate Bade followed that with another hit to pick up Dumais and make it 6-1. Three batters later, a Starks base hit got Marsalo home and made it 6-2.
It remained 6-2 until Princeton's last at-bat of the day. A Sablone hit and three errors got home two runs to make it 6-4, and Chang added a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5 before Harvard held on for the win.
Before returning to Ivy play next weekend at Dartmouth, Princeton will play a non-conference doubleheader at Villanova on Tuesday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Laudenslager, Alexis (12-8)
L: Anna Reed (7-7)
S: Chambers, Molly (1)
Batting:
2B: Kaitlin Lampson 1
RBI: Lauren Bobowski 2 ; Allison Heffley 1 ; Madi Mays 2
SH: Allison Heffley 1
SF: Madi Mays 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Trina Hoang 2 ; Brianna Jewett 1 ; Kaitlin Lampson 2
SB: Trina Hoang 1 ; Mackenzie Tyler 1
CS: Lauren Bobowski 1
Batting:
3B: McDonald, Ashley 1
RBI: Starks, Serena 1 ; Ha, Allison 2 ; Chang, Adrienne 1 ; Marsalo, Sophia 3 ; McDonald, Ashley 1
SH: Starks, Serena 1 ; Jackson, Grace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Starks, Serena 2 ; Jackson, Grace 1 ; Ha, Allison 2 ; Sablone, Lauren 2 ; McDonald, Ashley 1
HBP: Hornberger, Abby 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
2b/dp
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballC/UT
/ Softball
IF/C
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF/UT
/ Softball
C/UT
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballReflections from the Princeton Athletics Class of 2025
Tuesday, May 27
Softball Highlights vs. Columbia & Brown, Ivy League Tournament, 5-10-25
Saturday, May 10
Softball Highlights vs. Harvard, Ivy League Tournament, 5-9-25
Friday, May 09
Beyond The Stripes -- Princeton Softball's Legacy Of #2
Thursday, May 08