PRINCETON, N.J. - The Cornell softball team dropped a pair of games against Princeton on Saturday afternoon at Cynthia Lynn Paul '94 Field. The Tigers defeated the Big Red 6-4 in the opening game. Princeton capped the doubleheader with a 16-0 victory in five innings over Cornell. The Big Red moved to 7-10, while the Tigers improved to 12-9 on the season.
Game One
The Tigers struck quickly in the first inning, as Dominguez singled to drive in an unearned run for a 1-0 lead before Ford followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Princeton continued to apply pressure when Valenzuela delivered a two-run single later in the inning, extending the Tigers' advantage to 4-0 after the opening frame.
The Big Red began to chip away at the deficit in the second inning.
Hailey Pirkey doubled to left center to bring home
Tarisa Frans, cutting the Princeton lead to 4-1. Cornell carried that momentum into the third inning when
Lauren Holt doubled to left center to score
Charlize Cai and
Susanna Pate, trimming the deficit to 4-3. Moments later,
Ella Harrod lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Holt and tie the game at 4-4.
Princeton responded immediately in the bottom half of the third inning to regain the lead. Ford homered to left field to give the Tigers a 5-4 advantage, swinging the momentum back in Princeton's favor. The Tigers later added an insurance run in the fifth inning when Valenzuela doubled to left center to score Roa, extending the lead to 6-4.
Cornell was unable to generate another scoring push over the final innings despite getting the game back to even midway through the contest. Princeton's pitching held the Big Red scoreless the rest of the way to secure the 6-4 victory.
Game Two
Cornell was unable to recover from an early deficit in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Tigers erupted for nine runs in the opening inning, beginning with a bases-loaded walk to Ford that gave Princeton a 1-0 lead. Moments later, Valenzuela doubled to left center to bring home two runs and extend the advantage to 3-0, before Ratcheson added a two-run single to make it 5-0.
The Tigers continued to pour it on when Zhang tripled to right field to drive in three runs and push the lead to 8-0, and a sacrifice fly from Dominguez capped the inning with a 9-0 score.
Princeton continued its offensive surge in the second inning, adding four more runs to build a commanding lead. Ratcheson doubled down the right field line to make it 10-0 before Phelps followed with an RBI single to extend the margin to 11-0. Harrison then doubled to left field to plate another run for a 12-0 advantage, and Zhang delivered again with an RBI single to push the lead to 13-0.
The Tigers added to their lead in the third inning to put the game out of reach. Valenzuela homered to left field to bring home two runs and extend the score to 15-0. Later in the inning, Dominguez singled to drive in another run and make it 16-0, completing Princeton's offensive outburst.
Cornell was unable to generate any scoring opportunities against Princeton's pitching staff, as the Tigers held the Big Red scoreless throughout the contest. With Princeton holding a 16-run advantage after five innings, the game concluded via the run rule. The loss completed the doubleheader sweep for the Tigers.
Next Up
The Cornell softball team will return to the diamond tomorrow against Princeton. The Big Red and the Tigers are slated for the series finale at 12:30 p.m. at Cynthia Lynn Paul '94 Field. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
