Princeton to Open Ivy Softball Tournament Wednesday with Dartmouth

Wednesday, May 8

Princeton, N.J.

5:00 PM

Princeton University

Dartmouth

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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Princeton to Open Ivy Softball Tournament Wednesday with Dartmouth

May 06, 2024 | Softball

The Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament will be awarded this weekend when top-seeded Princeton hosts Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth in the Ivy League Tournament beginning Wednesday at Princeton Softball Stadium at Strubing Field.

Coverage: ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats | Tickets

Schedule: The tournament schedule was adjusted due to expected weather. Wednesday will see Yale and Harvard go at 2:30 p.m. before Princeton and Dartmouth start at approximately 5 p.m. On Thursday, the two winning teams from Wednesday and the two losing teams from Wednesday are scheduled to play, time to be determined, with the surviving team from the matchup of the two first-game losing teams and the losing team from the winner matchup on Friday at a time to be determined. The final remains scheduled for 12 p.m. on Saturday with the if-necessary game to follow.

Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament: Last season saw the first edition of the current iteration of the Ivy League Tournament with three of the this year's four teams also playing in that one in Princeton, Harvard and Yale with Dartmouth taking the place of Columbia. Columbia beat top-seeded Princeton to open the tournament, and Princeton won three in a row against Yale, Columbia and Harvard to force the if-necessary game against the Crimson, which Harvard won to get the NCAA bid.

Princeton vs. the Ivy tournament teams in 2024: Princeton faced the three other Ivy tournament teams on consecutive weekends in April, taking one of three from Harvard on the road, sweeping Dartmouth at home, and sweeping Yale on the road to take over first place in the Ivy. The 4-2 record against Harvard and Yale allowed Princeton to host the Ivy tournament with those three teams each finishing 14-7. Yale swept Harvard to go 3-3 vs. Harvard and Princeton, and Harvard went 2-4 against Yale and Princeton.

vs. Harvard: Lauren Sablone hit .400 (4-10) during the series, but the Crimson outhit Princeton .409 to .267 on the weekend. Sonia Zhang, Julia Dumais and Allie Goodwin each hit .333 (3-9). Brielle Wright led the Tigers in innings pitched, at 7 1/3 innings, with Cassidy Shaw throwing 5 2/3, getting a win, and Molly Chambers and Meghan Harrington going 2 2/3 each. Lael Ayala (.600, 3-5), Savannah Fitzpatrick (.545, 6-11), Sophie Sun (.500, 5-10), Lauren Bobowski (.455, 5-11), Maya Douglas (.400, 4-10) and Audrey Szollosi (.400, 2-5) each hit .400 or better for the Crimson, and Anna Reed (4.38, 8.0 IP, 0-1) and Nicolette Hunter (1.17, 6.0 IP, 2-0) threw most of the innings for the Crimson with Katie Arrambide (4.50, 4.2 IP) and Riley Flynn (26.25, 1.1 IP) splitting the rest of the innings in the circle.

vs. Dartmouth: Princeton hit .449 as a team in the Dartmouth series with Lauren Sablone going 7 for 8 (.875), Sophia Marsalo hitting .750 (6-8), Grace Jackson (3-6) and Karis Ford (1-2) each hitting .500, Cate Bade hitting .429 (3-7) and Julia Dumais hitting .400 (4-10). All four regular Tiger arms threw between four and seven innings with Molly Chambers and Brielle Wright each going four scoreless innings and each getting a win, Meghan Harrington going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA, and Cassidy Shaw going four innings (7.00 ERA). Rachel McCarroll threw all 16 innings (0-3, 8.75 ERA) for the Big Green with Cwen Wilson, Mary Beth Cahalan and Alaana Panu each going 3-8 for a .375 average.

vs. Yale: Princeton saw Sonia Zhang hit .677 (6-9) against the Bulldogs with Cate Bade going 4-7 (.571) and Julia Dumais going 5-10 (.500) as Princeton outhit Yale .318 to .224. Cassidy Shaw had a strong weekend, going 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA over 8 2/3 innings. Molly Chambers (0-0, 3.0 IP, 4.67), Brielle Wright (1-0, 4.2 IP, 6.00) and Meghan Harrington (0-0, 4.2 IP, 6.00) split the remaining innings. Carolyn Skotz hit .556 (5-9) for the Bulldogs with Sophie Woodridge at .500 (4-8). Meredith Henderson had a 1.11 ERA over 6 1/3 innings in the circle with Emma Taylor throwing 11 innings (0-2, 6.36) and Hannah Turner throwing 3 2/3 (0-1, 13.36, 3 2/3 IP).

Princeton in the NCAA tournament: If the Tigers capture the Ivy League's automatic bid, it would be Princeton's 12th trip to the NCAAs and fourth under Lisa Van Ackeren, which would tie her with Maureen Barron for most NCAA bids as coach with Princeton. Princeton's previous bids under Van Ackeren were in 2016, 2017 and most recently in 2022.

Saves record: Brielle Wright stands at eight saves this season and nine for her career. She already holds the Princeton single-season record and is tied for the program record with Riley Wilkinson '19. She also holds the Ivy single-season record and is one short of the Ivy career record of 10, co-held by Harvard alumnae Rachel Brown (2009-12) and Katie Duncan (2016-19).

Wins: At 26 wins, Princeton has its fourth-most wins under Lisa Van Ackeren, winning 29 games in 2023 and 27 each in 2013 and 2022. With as many as four wins a possibility this weekend, if Princeton gets to 30 wins, it'd be the program's most since a 34-win season in 2006.

Up next: The Ivy League Tournament's winning team will hear its name called on the NCAA tournament selection show, set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.