Ivy Champ Princeton to Host Ivy League Softball Tournament

Thursday, May 7

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Brown (Ivy League Tournament)

Buy Tickets

2024 ivy softball tournament trophy celebration

Princeton won the Ivy League Tournament title in 2024.

Ivy Champ Princeton to Host Ivy League Softball Tournament

May 03, 2026 | Softball

The Ivy League Tournament will return to the only home it has known over its short history when, for the fourth consecutive year, Princeton will host the tournament with Thursday as the start, pending weather.

Princeton is the top seed and will host fourth-seeded Brown on Thursday at 12 p.m., followed by second-seeded Harvard and third-seeded Columbia. Friday will see the winners meet at 10 a.m., followed by Thursday's losing teams, with the day closing with another elimination game between the team that loses Friday's first game and the team that wins Friday's second game. Saturday's final is scheduled to be at noon.

Tournament links: ESPN+ | International Video | Live Scoring | Tickets

Tournament history: The Ivy League postseason has taken different forms since it began in 2007, first as a matchup of the winners of the two four-team divisions, called the Ivy League Championship Series (2007-17), then the Ivy League Playoff Series between the top two teams once the league returned to one division (2018-22), and now the four-team, double-elimination tournament, held since 2023. Princeton has hosted all four tournaments and has made the final each of the first three times, winning in 2024 but seeing Harvard win in 2023 and Brown win in 2025. In 2023, Princeton lost the opener against Columbia and then won three straight to knock out Yale and Columbia and force the if-necessary game with Harvard before a loss. In 2024, Princeton opened with two straight wins but lost initially to Harvard to force the if-necessary game before winning that game and the tournament title. In 2025, Princeton lost its opener to Brown, then rallied to make the final, knocking out Harvard and Columbia before losing to Brown, which became the first team to go 3-0 at the Ivy League Tournament. While Princeton will try to become the first team to win two Ivy League Tournament titles, and Brown will try to make 2026 go just the way 2025 did, with the same teams in the tournament in back-to-back years for the first, time and in the same seeding order as well. The Bears opened with a win over Princeton, beat Columbia in the winners' game, and then beat Princeton as the last surviving team.

Tournament wins: Princeton has an 8-5 (.615) record across the four tournaments, with Harvard at 6-5 (.545) across the four tournaments, Columbia at 2-4 (.333) between its two appearances in 2023 and 2025, and Brown at 3-0 (1.000) from its appearance in 2025, among the team's in this year's tournaments. Dartmouth went 1-2 (.333) in its lone appearance in 2024, and Yale went 0-4 (.000) between 2023 and 2024. Cornell and Penn have yet to qualify for the Ivy League Tournament.

All-tournament: Four current Tigers have earned Ivy All-Tournament Team honors, with Julia Dumais receiving the honor in 2023 and 2025, Karis Ford as the Most Outstanding Player in 2024, Cassidy Shaw as all-tournament in 2024 and 2025, and Sonia Zhang in 2025.

Career records: While many of Princeton's statistical program records were set in the mid-1990s, when Princeton sent two teams to the Women's College World Series, a current Tiger might reach one, with Julia Dumais at 83 career walks with the record at 88, first set by Tara Pignoli '95 (1992-95) and equaled by Marissa Reynolds '17 (2014-17). Dumais has 83 career walks heading into the Ivy League Tournament. Dumais' 133 runs are tied for fourth all-time and are the most for any Tiger since 1997, behind only Stacy Thurber '96 (175), Jen Babik '95 (171), and Tara Christie '97 (138). Dumais' 12 triples are also tied for fourth all-time, behind Babik (21), Margaret Niemann '85 (16) and Michelle Morale '97 (15). Dumais' 71 XBH are fifth all-time, behind Amanda Pfeiffer '97 (99), Kathryn Welch '09 (84), Melissa Finley '05 (77) and Linda Smolka '89 (74). Dumais' 118 RBI are tied for sixth, behind Pfeiffer (164), Smolka (144), Welch (128), Morale (125) and Finley (122). Fellow senior Brielle Wright holds the program record for saves in a career (15) and a season (10, 2024).

Team records: Princeton has scored 261 runs this year, and while the program record is 402, set in 1995, Princeton's next run will be the program's most since 1996, when it scored 284. Behind the 402 in 1995, Princeton scored 302 in 1988, 284 in 1996, 279 in 1994, and 261 last season. The team's 436 hits are already the program's most since 1996, behind 1995's 569, 1994's 508, and 1996's 473. The team's .352 batting average would be a program record if the Tigers finish ahead of the .341 the team hit in 1995. The team's 77 doubles are tied for third-most all-time, alongside 2002 and behind 1995's 108 and 2005's 82. The current Tigers' 13 triples are climbing the list as well, even with 1996 and 2024 and behind onlt 1995's 27, 1985's 18, 1987's 17, 2025's 16, and 1991's 14. The team's 35 homers are sixth-most all-time, behind 2008 (55), 2025 (43), 2013 (41), 2005 (38) and 2002 (36). The team's 247 RBI this season are third-most in program history, behind 1995 (328) and 2025 (251). The team's .976 fielding percentage is contending for the program record, set in 2017 at .977.

Against the Ivy: Princeton has outscored Ivy League opponents nearly 3 to 1 this season, scoring 141 to opponents' 52 while getting 230 hits to opponents' 140, and more than twice as many homers, 17 to 7. Princeton pitchers have hit only two Ivy League batters while drawing 19 HBPs in league play. The team has also stolen four times as many bases as its Ivy opponents, 28-7. Princeton is out-hitting Ivy opponents .374 to .253, and Princeton pitchers have a 2.39 ERA in Ivy play to 6.75 for opponents' pitchers.

Ivy wins records: Though Princeton came up a win short of following the 2023 Tigers as the only team in the seven seasons since the Ivy schedule went to seven three-game series in 2018 to win all seven series, Princeton tied the Ivy record for league wins in a season at 18, alongside the 2008 Tigers, 2011 Harvard, and 2014 Dartmouth. The 14-0 Ivy start this season tied the program record for best start (2008) and was a game behind the 2014 Dartmouth team (15-0) for the league record for best Ivy start.

Ivy weekly honorees: Princeton led the league with 12 total weekly awards (Columbia had the second-most, with eight), including league bests with five Rookie of the Week honors, four Pitcher of the Week honors, and three Player of the Week honors. Princeton also had the most different honorees among the listed awards, with seven: Mia Valenzuela, Braeden Hale, Cassidy Shaw, Maddie Ratcheson, Reece Uehara, Graciela Dominguez and Brielle Wright. Valenzuela and Ratcheson led Princeton with three Ivy awards each, and Columbia's Mads Lawson was the only player with more, leading with three Pitcher of the Week honors and co-leading alongside Ratcheson with three Rookie of the Week honors.

Ivy titles: Princeton's 2026 Ivy League title is its 24th all-time and its fifth in a row, a run matched in Ivy history only by Princeton's seven-year run from 1983-89. Of the 24, 21 are outright, including the 2026 title. Harvard has the second-most titles, with 10 overall and six outright.

Stat notes: Princeton leads the Ivy on the season overall in batting average (.352), hits (436), triples (13), total bases (644), hit batters (30), assists (349), fielding percentage (.976), ERA (3.19), wins (30), shutouts (nine), saves (nine), fewest wild pitches (10), fewest hit batters (eight), fielding chances (1,229) and fewest errors (30), with Julia Dumais leading in times hit by a pitch (14) and assists (92), Cassidy Shaw leads in pitching wins (14), Reece Uehara and Brielle Wright co-lead in saves (three), Keala Hollenkamp leads in fewest runs allowed (30), and Camryn Bradshaw and Maddie Ratcheson are two of three league players with a 1.000 fielding percentage. In league games, Princeton led the Ivy in batting average (.374), runs scored (141), hits (230), doubles (36), triples (eight), RBI (135), total bases (333), slugging percentage (.541), most batters hit by opponents' pitches (19), on-base percentage (.443), assists (176), fielding percentage (.977), ERA (2.39), shutouts (six), saves (six), and fewest errors (14), with Dumais leading in times hit by a pitch (seven) and assists (59), Wright leading in lowest opponents' batting average (.189), saves (three) and fewest hits allowed (20), runs allowed (nine), earned runs allowed (nine) and doubles allowed (two), Shaw leading in wins (10), and Uehara leading with fewest home runs allowed (one).

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 283 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.