SOFTBALL | Two doubleheaders ahead

By Frances Sawyer
Friday, March 27, 2009

Long bus rides and fierce competition await the softball team this weekend as the Bulldogs face two of their toughest league competitors on the road this weekend.

Coming off two strong victories against Army on Wednesday, Yale (9-11, 0-0 Ivy) will be hard-pressed to perform similarly against Princeton and Cornell, two Ivy schools that together hold a 121-43 record in league games over the past five years.

Saturday’s game will be Princeton’s home opener, and the Tigers (5-9) currently lead the league in batting with a .291 average. Four Princeton players are hitting over .300, two of whom have averages over .400. The Big Red (19-5), whom the Bulldogs will face on Sunday, is second in hitting with a .279.

Yale heads into the weekend with 15 runs and 24 hits from their two games Wednesday. In their last six games, the Bulldogs have allowed only eight earned runs.

Katie Edwards ’09, who tied the Yale softball career record for home runs on Wednesday, will have her first chance to grab sole possession of the record this weekend. After having shoulder surgery earlier this year, she has been working hard to meet her goal of holding that record on her own. She has already hit three homers this season; however, she will find a tough challenge in Cornell’s pitching staff, which leads the league with a combined 1.49 ERA.

The Elis are fresh off their spring break pilgrimage to Kissimmee, Fla., where they went 6-6 against teams including Butler, Bucknell and Maine. Cornell also spent spring recess in Florida, where they went 12-5. Princeton, meanwhile, spent its break in California, going 2-6 against West Coast teams, including Stanford, to which they lost 1-0.

The Big Red’s top two pitchers each have ERA under 1.00, and Cornell pitcher Elizabeth Dalrymple, who currently holds a 0.94 ERA, was named Ivy Pitcher of the Week last week. Teammate Elise Menaker was named Player of the Week for hitting .436 over the last seven days.

Play opens in Princeton, N.J., on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. On Sunday, Yale travels to Ithaca, N.Y., with the first of two games beginning at 12:30 p.m.

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