Softball Team Aims to Keep Strong Start Going This Weekend in Orlando

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At 4-0 for the first time since 2005, the Princeton softball team will look to turn that into a first-ever best start when it travels to Orlando, Fla., for five games in the UCF Knights Classic beginning on Friday.

On the Tigers:

• Rookies played a huge role in the season's first weekend. Sonia Zhang hit .455 (5-11), homering, driving in six runs, and stealing both bases attempted while playing all four games. Karis Ford hit .444 (4-9), driving in three runs and drawing two walks. Allie Goodwin (2-6) hit .333, playing three of the four games and drawing three walks. In the circle, Cassidy Shaw got the win in each of her first two collegiate starts, carrying an 0.70 ERA over 10 innings with just one run allowed on five hits and three walks, striking out eight.

• In the circle, Shaw led the team in innings pitched last first weekend, throwing 10 of the 25. Junior Meghan Harrington threw 9 1/3 with an 0.75 ERA. Sophomore Brielle Wright threw just 1 1/3 innings last weekend, but they came in big spots as she earned two saves.

• Lauren Sablone and Zhang co-led Princeton in batting average over the first weekend, at .455. Sablone drove in a team-high eight runs and hit two of the team's four homers over the first weekend.

• Princeton is 4-0 for the first time since 2005. The team has never started 5-0, which it can do with a win Friday against Bethune-Cookman.

• Princeton scored 29 runs over the first four games, tying the most over the first four games in program history, with the 1993 team also scoring 29. Princeton's opponents scored just eight runs.

This weekend's games:

vs. Bethune-Cookman, Fri., 10 a.m. | Live Stats
All-time series: Have not met
On the Wildcats: Bethune-Cookman is three weekends into its season and stands 1-13, winning a nine-inning game over Illinois State 3-2 at South Florida on Feb. 8 and then enduring the 13-game skid it will look to break against the Tigers. Three of the losses have been one-run games, against Michigan (3-2), Colgate (3-2) and Loyola Marymount (6-5). Bethune-Cookman was picked to finish second in the SWAC East division, and Halyne Gonzalez was tabbed as the league's preseason Pitcher of the Year and first-team honoree with DP Essence Gibbs as a second-team honoree.

at UCF, Fri., 3:30 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+ | Sat., 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | ESPN+
All-time series: UCF leads 5-1 with the last meeting in 2019
On the Knights: UCF is 8-6 on the season with the Friday night game against Princeton as its next game. The Knights were picked fifth in the Big 12 preseason poll with pitcher/outfielder Sarah Willis on the preseason all-conference team. Johneisha Rowe is leading the team with a .450 batting average as the Knights are hitting .325 as a team with nine homers from six players in the team's 14 games so far. Willis has thrown 27 2/3 of the team's 90 innings, holding a 2.02 ERA as seven pitchers have logged innings so far.

vs. Kennesaw State, Sat., 12:30 p.m. | Live Stats
All-time series: Have not met
On the Owls: Kennesaw State is 4-12 heading into a Wednesday visit to Georgia State but has won two of its last three games. Kennesaw State was picked fifth in the Atlantic Sun's preseason poll with outfielder Stella Henry on the preseason all-league team. Kenley Hilleary has three of the team's wins in the circle and is one of three pitchers on the staff who've logged between 26 and 31 innings so far.

vs. No. 22 South Carolina, Sun., 9 a.m. | Live Stats
All-time series: South Carolina leads 10-0 with the last meeting in 2006
On the Gamecocks: South Carolina was ranked No. 22 in the nation in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll on Feb. 27 and was picked ninth in the SEC preseason poll with Alana Vawter earning preseason all-conference honors. The team stands 13-2 heading into a Wednesday visit from the College of Charleston with Riley Blampied (.462, 24-52) and Reganne Bennett (.429, 9-21) each hitting above .400. Vawter has thrown a team-high 34 1/3 innings, holding a 1.83 ERA as the Gamecocks' team ERA stands at 1.73.

After the weekend, Princeton will head to California to start its spring break trip, playing in five games in an event co-hosted by Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State before playing games during the following week at Cal Baptist and UC San Diego in the Tigers' pre-Ivy finale.

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