Softball Team Set to Host Monmouth Wednesday

Wednesday, April 15

Princeton, N.J.

4:30 PM

Princeton University

Monmouth

Sonia Zhang and the Tigers will host Monmouth on Wednesday.

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

April 13, 2026 | Softball

In what will be the team's final non-league games of the regular season, the Princeton softball team will host Monmouth on Wednesday at Cynthia Lynn Paul '94 Field.

vs. Monmouth | Int'l Video | Live Stats | Team Yearbook | Free Admission
Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. doubleheader | ESPN+ Game 1 | Game 2

Ivy standings: At 12-0 in the Ivy, Princeton holds a four-game lead over second-place Harvard (8-4) with the teams' series coming up next weekend in Cambridge after the Tigers go to Yale this weekend and the Crimson host Penn. Princeton's Ivy start is already in historic territory and can continue to make more history, as it's just the third time that Princeton has started as strong as 12-0 in Ivy play, along with 1995, when there were only 12 league games, the first year there were at least that number, and 2008, when the team started 14-0 on the way to 18-2, setting a league wins record that Harvard (2011) and Dartmouth (2013) equaled but still stands as the record for most league wins in a season. Depending on other results around the league, Princeton can clinch an Ivy League Tournament bid this weekend, as the Tigers stand 7 1/2 up on fifth-place Cornell (6-9) with nine to play for the Tigers (six to play for the Big Red) and eight up on Brown and Dartmouth (4-8), who are tied for sixth.

On Princeton: The Tigers (22-10, 12-0) have achieved their fifth straight 20-win season, having averaged 28 wins over the last four seasons. Princeton has had as many as 30 wins in a season during Lisa Van Ackeren's tenure (2024), and should Princeton surpass that, it would be the team's most wins in a season since winning 34 games in 2006. The Tigers entered the week as one of three conference-unbeaten teams in Division I, alongside Southeastern Louisiana, who had a three-game set with Stephen F. Austin beginning on Tuesday, and Washington, which heads to Oregon beginning Friday. Princeton was included in D1Softball's Mid-Major Top 25 this week, at No. 25. Heading into the week, Princeton led the Ivy League in doubles per game (1.84), fielding percentage (.978), fewest batters hit by pitchers (eight), shutouts (four), and winning percentage (.688). Individually, Julia Dumais led the Ivy in assists per game (2.22), times hit by pitch (10), and times hit by pitch per game (0.31), Maddie Ratcheson led with three sac flies, Reece Uehara led in ERA (2.41), Cassidy Shaw led in fewest hit batters (two) and wins (10), and Brielle Wright led with three saves. In Ivy play, Princeton leads as a team in batting average (.367), on-base percentage (.452), fielding percentage (.983), ERA (1.86), and saves (six). Individually, Princeton had the conference-only leaders in on-base percentage (Graciela Dominguez, .674), OPS (Dominguez, 1.480), wins (Shaw, seven), saves (Wright, three), and assists (Dumais, 40).

On Monmouth: The Hawks (15-23) are coming off seeing Stony Brook take two of three in the teams' Coastal Athletic Association series over the weekend in West Long Branch, putting the Hawks at 5-10 in the CAA and in fifth place in the five-team North Division. The Tigers and the Hawks have a few common opponents this season, with North Carolina taking a game from each, Monmouth getting a win over Penn and Princeton taking three from the Quakers, and Princeton taking two from Stony Brook and the Seawolves taking two of three from the Hawks. The top two teams in each division and the best two league winning percentages otherwise make the CAA Tournament, with Monmouth three games back of second-place Stony Brook in its division and two games back of both Drexel and Elon for the last of what would be the two at-large spots. Mackenzie Bloss leads the team with a .368 BA while the Hawks are hitting .282 overall, and while seven arms have seen time for Monmouth this year, Alissa Eimont (7-10, 3.82 ERA), Carah Sumpter (3-4, 4.26), Isabella Bonacci (2-7, 6.23) and Olivia Lewis (3-1, 3.65) have accounted for all the decisions. Sumpter led the CAA in fewest walks allowed per seven innings, at 1.09.

Series history: Princeton leads the all-time series with Monmouth 14-3, and the Tigers have won the last three overall and the most recent game at home. Princeton won in 2022 and 2025 in West Long Branch around a 2024 win in Princeton, while Monmouth won in 2018 in Princeton and in 2019 at the shore. The 2024 game saw Karis Ford homer in a 3-0 Tiger win with Brielle Wright throwing the last two shutout innings. The 2025 game saw Allie Goodwin and Jessica Phelps drive in two runs each on the way to an 8-2 Princeton win, while Cassidy Shaw threw four shutout innings and Keala Hollenkamp allowed two runs in an inning and a third. The Hawks were charged with four errors in the game and sent Olivia Lewis (2 1/3 IP, two runs allowed) and Jayla Cadena (4 2/3 IP, six runs, none earned) to the circle. Isabella Bonacci, the lone Mercer County player on the roster (Hamilton), homered in the game.

The Ivy title run: Princeton has won the last four Ivy League titles, which are decided on regular-season play, and has hosted the last four Ivy League postseasons, including the 2022 Ivy League Playoff Series (winning two of three from Harvard), the 2023 Ivy League Tournament (made final, which Harvard won), the 2024 Ivy League Tournament (won), and the 2025 Ivy League Tournament (made final, which Brown won). Only one other time in Ivy League history has a team won at least four Ivy League titles in a row, and that was Princeton as well, which won seven straight from 1983-89.

Coaching staff: Princeton head coach Lisa Van Ackeren is in her 14th season at Princeton and is the dean of the current Ivy League coaches. All-time, Van Ackeren is the second-winningest coach in program history and is the fifth-winningest head coach in Ivy League history, at 275 wins. The top four, all former coaches in the league, are Harvard's Jenny Allard (688), Cornell's Dick Blood (623), Princeton's Cindy Cohen (559) and Penn's Leslie King (354). Princeton has won six of the nine Ivy League Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year honors since the award was inaugurated in 2015, including 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (no award in 2020 or 2021). Assistant coach Alyssa Davis is entering her seventh season, Ashley McDonald her second, and Nicole Arias her 12th.