Softball to Battle Princeton

One Ivy League team has haunted Harvard softball since the Crimson became a varsity team in 1981.

That would be Princeton which has won all 24 games between the two teams. The Crimson (10-8, 3-1 Ivy) will try to break that streak when it hosts the 23rd-ranked Tigers (28-6, 4-0) in a doubleheader today at Soldiers Field, beginning at 1 p.m.

Just ask first-year Harvard coach Jenny Allard about Princeton's mastery.

Actually, don't--enough people already have.

"Every person I've met on campus has said, `Oh, you're the softball coach--when are we going to beat Princeton?" Allard said.

While a crystal ball would be more appropriate to answer that question, Harvard will need to play flawlessly for the answer to be today. The Crimson has the talent to win if it can get the bats going again after the 2-1 loss to Boston University on Thursday.

The Terriers' pitchers shut down Harvard, allowing only two hits while striking out 14 batters. They featured the high heat, or riseball--a fast pitch that rises on its way to the plate.

Harvard had trouble hitting that pitch Thursday. The hitters had to guess when it was coming, and for the most part they either were frozen at the plate and took called third strikes or they swung at bad pitches.

The Tiger pitchers also feature the riseball, so the Crimson will have to learn from its mistakes quickly.

"Princeton's main pitcher uses the riseball a lot," junior Amy Reinhard said. "[The pitches] have a lot of upward movement."

Tiger Maureen Devies (14-3. 1.18 ERA) and Kristi Jelinek (12-3, 2.20 ERA) are Princeton's top two hurlers, while Alyssa Smith (2-0, 1.53) is the current Ivy Rookie of the Week.

Princeton's hitters aren't too shabby either.

Tiger Amy Whelan--the current Ivy League Player of the Week--leads the Ivy League with a .750 batting average in league games (.392 over all). The Tigers also feature six players with Ivy averages over. 500.

Speaking of .500, the only Ivy League squad besides Princeton with a league record above .500 is Harvard. With its doubleheader split at Brown and twinbill sweep at Yale, Harvard finds itself just one game behind the Tigers in the Ancient Eight standings.

"Everyone knows that Princeton is the team to beat," sophomore Melissa Kreuder said. "As long as we come out the way we did against Yale [3-1 and 3-2 Harvard wins], I think we'll be in good shape."

Harvard freshman Heather Brown (2-1 Ivy, 1 Save) leads all Ivy pitchers with a 0.60 ERA in league action and is 5-2 with a 1.48 ERA overall. Sophomore Rachel Salzman (2-1, 2.00 ERA) and freshman Tasha Cupp (3-2, 2.58 ERA)--the current Ivy League Pitcher of the Week--have also been strong on the mound.

At the plate, freshman Kara Hartl comes in as the overall batting leader among Ivy League players at a .513 clip. Sophomore Sara Cushman (.378), juniors Reinhard (.364) and Danielle Feinberg (.353) and sophomore Katina Lee (.339) are also having strong seasons at the plate.

"[Princeton is] not going to make mistakes," Allard said. "Princeton's not going to lose--you have to beat them to win. We are going to give it our best."