Softball Falls to Princeton in Ivy League Title Series

For the entirety of the 2017 Ivy League softball season, Princeton towered above all other competitors. Breezing through the schedule with a 15-5 conference record, the Tigers only faced significant resistance from Dartmouth, which swept Princeton in a two-game set.

On the other hand, Harvard battled back from a sluggish start to its Ivy slate to ultimately earn a spot in the championship series with a 13-7 league record. Unlike the Tigers, the Crimson had no problem with the Big Green, which it swept in four games to win the North Division.

Though Harvard (22-19, 13-7 Ivy) only trailed Princeton (25-18, 15-5) by two games heading into the weekend of the Ancient Eight championship, the teams’ records did not tell the entire story. In their two meetings in the regular season, the Tigers beat the Crimson by a combined score of 16-4.

Harvard suffered a similar fate on its playoff trip down to Princeton, exiting the Ivy League Championship Series as quickly as it had leapfrogged in over North Division rival Dartmouth.

“I think we had a really good last stretch of games in order to finish where we did,” sophomore third baseman Erin Lockhart said. “We battled through a lot of injuries and other things, but we finished strong at the end of the season even if it wasn't the outcome we wanted.”

PRINCETON 13, HARVARD 4

The Crimson dropped the second game on Saturday to close out its season. In the series finale, the Tigers demonstrated the same dominance they did back in early April when they visited Harvard and left with two victories.

“We're all sad and disappointed with our season ending, but this is just going to provide us with that much more motivation to improve ourselves for next season,” sophomore shortstop Rhianna Rich said. “I think we know what we need to do collectively to win the championship after these past two years of making it and coming up short.”

This contest was not nearly as much of a battle as the first game, as Princeton jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the fourth inning. Doubles fueled the Tigers’ early offensive attack. In Princeton’s first trip to the plate, first baseman Kaylee Grant doubled down the left field line to drive in two. In the top of the fourth, the Tigers tacked three runs on the board with a pair of RBI doubles.

The Crimson made a comeback bid beginning in the home half of the fourth, and by the end of the fifth Harvard had pulled within two, making it a 6-4 game.

The Crimson’s comeback was led by its two power threats, first baseman Olivia Giaquinto and Lockhart. In the fourth, Giaquinto knocked a solo homer over the center field wall to score Harvard’s first run of the weekend.

Harvard continued to keep the pressure on in the fifth. Junior right fielder Maddy Kaplan drove in junior left fielder Dallas Hogan with a sacrifice fly. With co-captain Giana Panariello on base, Lockhart smoked a two-run homerun to left field. The homers for Giaquinto and Lockhart were the seventh of the season for each player.

“It's great to have Erin and Olivia in the lineup because they've come up clutch with home runs and extra base hits, especially these past two weekends,” Rich said.

However, the Crimson did not maintain the momentum it had gained in the middle innings. Princeton’s offense erupted for seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and Tigers reliever Riley Wilkinson shut down Harvard in her two innings of work. Wilkinson struck out two and allowed one walk and no hits.

“They just out hit us and capitalized on their opportunities,” Lockhart said.

PRINCETON 1, HARVARD 0

Despite sophomore lefthander Katie Duncan and the Crimson defense’s success at stranding Princeton on the basepaths, Harvard was unable to get its offense going in a narrow walk-off defeat.

Entering the final frame, the Crimson looked to draw first blood following six innings of staunch pitching and defense from both sides. Hogan led off by punching a single into left field, and two outs later Kaplan advanced Hogan to second with another single. However, Tigers’ pitcher Claire Klausner got out of the inning by inducing a flyout to center field.

After a scoreless top of the seventh, three outs separated Duncan and Harvard from taking the first game of the playoff series to extra innings. The Crimson had worked out of tight situations all game, and the bottom of the seventh was yet another jam.

Second baseman Haley Hineman led off with a single, and third baseman Alex Viscusi drew a walk. A flyout to center marked the first out of the inning, but right fielder Kylee Pierce reached on a fielder’s choice to load up the bases for Princeton’s third hitter.

This time, Harvard was unable to escape the jam. Tigers shortstop Allison Harvey singled into right field to bring home Hineman with the game-winning run, and Princeton took game one of the best-of-three series.

“Pitchers for both teams had very good performances, and they just came up with the timely hit when they needed to,” Lockhart said.

Pitching was clearly the focus of this low-scoring affair. Duncan threw 6.1 innings, struck out five, and only allowed one run. On the Tigers side, Klausner spun a complete game, allowing six hits and three walks while striking out eight.

The Crimson also had several key defensive innings that allowed it to mitigate the threat of seven hits and six walks from Princeton. In the bottom of the first with runners on first and second and two down, Grant singled up the middle, and it seemed all but certain the Tigers would strike first. However, sophomore center fielder Kaitlyn Schiffhauer’s throw home beat the runner to keep Princeton off the scoreboard.

“Katie did a really good job hitting her spots on the mound and getting them to hit into outs,” Lockhart said. “When they did get hits and get on base, our defense was really strong and made the plays we needed to hold them throughout the game.”

Aside from the top of the seventh, Harvard had other opportunities to get to Klausner and put runs on the board. Rich and sophomore catcher Elizabeth Shively hit leadoff doubles in the first and fifth innings, respectively, but each time the Crimson left runners in scoring position.

“We struggled with timely hitting,” Rich said. “We left 9 people on base so the problem wasn't getting on base, it was hitting those runners in. We hit the ball well the first game, just not at the right times.”

—Staff writer Jack Stockless can be reached at jack.stockless@thecrimson.com.