Tigers Split Pair at Harvard as Ivy Series Concludes

Sunday, April 7

Cambridge, Mass.

12:30 PM

Princeton University

15-11, 4-4

Harvard

14-12, 5-5

Princeton

Harvard

Julia Dumais homered in Sunday's first game.

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Tigers Split Pair at Harvard as Ivy Series Concludes

April 07, 2024 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Heading for the halfway point of the Ivy League season, the Princeton softball team split a doubleheader on Sunday to wrap an Ivy weekend series at Harvard.

Harvard held on to win the opener 8-7 before Princeton took the nightcap 6-5.

The results put Princeton in fourth place in a tight Ivy standings with the midpoint of the Ivy season coming next weekend in a visit from Dartmouth. Columbia leads at 7-2 with Yale next at 9-3, Dartmouth third at 5-3 with a single game on Tuesday against Harvard, then Princeton at 5-4 in what is now the final Ivy tournament spot. Harvard stands a game back in fifth at 5-6 with Brown (3-6) two games back of Princeton and Penn and Cornell, both 2-7, three back of the last spot in the Ivy tournament, though much opportunity still remains for movement in the 21-game league slate.

Sunday's first game saw Princeton take a 1-0 lead with a first-inning RBI double from Allison Ha picking up a one-out walk to Lauren Sablone. Harvard answered with six runs in the bottom of the first, and though the Crimson never relinquished the lead after that point, Princeton began to chip away.

The second inning saw Princeton score four runs on three walks, two hit batters and two hits. A walk to Sablone drove in one run before a Julia Dumais HBP drove in another and Allie Goodwin's single brought home two more to pull Princeton within 6-5.

Harvard got a run back to lead 7-5 before Princeton scored a run in the fourth on an Allison Ha squeeze to pick up a Sablone leadoff hit to bring the Tigers back within one at 7-6.

Harvard regained a two-run lead at 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth, and though Princeton got a Dumais solo homer in the sixth to make it 8-7, the rally ended there. Meghan Harrington started and threw 2 2/3 innings before Brielle Wright went the rest of the way.

Highlights from today's opener! RBIs from Allison Ha and Allie Goodwin, a nice double play, and a Julia Dumais homer! pic.twitter.com/eSIdbOLjpG
— Princeton Softball (@PUSoftball) April 8, 2024

In game two, it was Princeton that led and held off a Harvard rally. In the first inning, a Sonia Zhang leadoff single came around to score three batters later on a Ha base hit. In the second inning, a Goodwin leadoff hit, two groundouts and an error helped put Princeton up 2-0, and in the third, a Sablone leadoff single came home three batters later on a Sophia Marsalo hit to put Princeton up 3-0.

The teams traded runs the rest of the way, with Harvard pulling within 3-2 in the fourth before Princeton used a Zhang hit, an error and a Ha sacrifice squeeze to pick up a run before a Marsalo double restored the two-run Tiger lead at 5-2 in the fifth.

Harvard got two in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 5-4, but Cate Bade singled in the sixth and came home two batters later on an error to put Princeton up 6-5, a valuable run when Harvard got one in its half of the sixth to make it 6-5.

Highlights from the series finale at Harvard!

RBIs from Allison Ha and Sophia Marsalo, the Tigers turn two, and Brielle Wright gets her program-record sixth save of the season! pic.twitter.com/nBdFHxwyX9
— Princeton Softball (@PUSoftball) April 8, 2024

Wright stranded the tying and winning runs on base in the seventh to pick up her sixth save of the season, extending her program single-season record and putting her within one of the Ivy League single-season record, set last year by Harvard's Riley Flynn with seven.