Softball Ties Ivy Wins Record in Saturday Split

Saturday, May 2

Princeton, N.J.

12:30 PM

Princeton University

30-11, 18-1

Dartmouth

8-23, 5-13

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Dartmouth	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Princeton	0	2	0	3	0	3	X	8	11	2

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

May 02, 2026 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

This season is the 18th since the Ivy League softball schedule expanded to 20 games, and later to 21, and of the 144 chances for a team to win as many as 18 games, only four have.

The 2026 Princeton Tigers became the fourth of those teams, taking Saturday's first game of the final league series of the season over Dartmouth, 8-1, before the Big Green handed Princeton just their second loss of the league season, 10-6. The 2008 Tigers, Harvard in 2011, and Dartmouth in 2014 were the others. Princeton can go for the Ivy League record on Sunday in the regular-season finale.

The first-game win was also Princeton's 30th win overall this season, making 2026 the 15th time in program history that a Tiger team has reached the 30-win mark. Princeton has played at least 30 games in a season annually since 1984.

Princeton had already assured itself of the Ivy League title and the opportunity to host the Ivy League Tournament going into the weekend, and though the four teams are set, the pairings have yet to be determined, hinging on the Harvard-Columbia series finale and potentially a Dartmouth-Brown make-up game on Monday. Harvard, Columbia and Brown have already joined Princeton in clinching spots in the four-team field.

Saturday's first game saw Dartmouth take a 1-0 lead on a Sydney Herrmann home run in the second inning, but a Jessica Phelps base hit put a runner on for Maddie Ratcheson to send out a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, and Princeton led the rest of the way. The Tigers expanded their lead to 5-1 in the fourth, using a Phelps leadoff double and a Mia Valenzuela sacrifice fly two batters later to make it 3-1, and after the next three batters reached to load the bases, Julia Dumais put a two-run single down the line to make it 5-1.

A Sonia Zhang single, a Graciela Dominguez double, a dropped fly ball off Dumais' bat, and a Karis Ford sacrifice fly added up to three runs and an 8-1 Tiger lead in the sixth.

In the circle, Cassidy Shaw went five innings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk, striking out two, before Brielle Wright went two innings with just a hit allowed, striking out one.

In game two, Princeton again responded to an early Dartmouth lead, but the Big Green countered with eight runs between the third and fourth innings to take control and spoil Princeton's bid for an Ivy League record and winning its seventh Ivy series of the season, at least for Saturday.

Herrmann had a two-run double in the first, and after a Zhang home run got Princeton on the board in the bottom of the inning, Karis Ford added an RBI double and Phelps had a run-scoring hit to give Princeton a 3-2 lead.

Dartmouth's middle-innings production gave it a 10-4 lead, with Princeton scoring a run on a Phelps sacrifice fly in the third, and the Tigers got two back in the seventh on RBI hits from Valenzuela and Ratcheson to make it 10-6.

Shaw was strong in relief of Reece Uehara and Keala Hollenkamp, throwing four shutout innings with three hits allowed without a walk while getting three strikeouts.