SOFTBALL 2004: Ivy Softball Preview

Last year: 24-21-1, 11-3

This spring: 7-8

After losing to second-seeded South Carolina 8-7 in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament despite holding a 7-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, the two-time defending Ivy champs laid out an ambitious schedule to open the 2004 season. Of the Tigers’ first 14 opponents, only four have not been ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 at some point this year. Princeton has beaten No. 23 Arizona State, No. 15 Fresno State, No. 13 Pacific 3-2, and lost by a slim 2-0 margin to No. 3 California behind a two-hit, eight-strikeout performance from sophomore Erin Snyder. The reigning Ivy Rookie of the Year has been quite impressive against tough competition, with a 2.38 ERA and 68 strikeouts in just under 65 innings of work. The returning Ivy Player of the Year junior Melissa Finley is the Tigers’ number two option in the hurling circle. Finley, who also roams the outfield, and Snyder are two of Princeton’s top offensive threats as well. Second Team All-Ivy selections junior second baseman Kristin Lueke and senior outfielder Wendy Bingham have been solid this spring at the plate. Freshman outfielder Stephanie Steel has come in and started every game, and is currently second on the team in RBI. Two of the Tigers three Ivy losses last season came at the hands of the Crimson, so Harvard has shown it can certainly hang with the champs.

CORNELL

33-7, 10-4

This spring: 9-6

Last year’s runner-up, the Big Red comes back with a Big Bang. Cornell has perhaps the most potent 3-4-5 trio in the Ivies with senior center fielder Kate Varde, junior shortstop Lauren May, and junior catcher Melissa Heintz. Varde and Heintz were both First Team All-Ivy, and Varde led the league in hitting. Varde has had trouble picking up where she left off, and is batting only .222 so far this year. But Heintz and May, a Second Team All-Ivy pick, have more than compensated. Through 15 games, Heintz has batted .308 with nine RBI and three home runs, while May has been out of control, hitting .525 with 19 RBI and five home runs. Freshman first baseman/outfielder Erin Murtha has also made an impact, batting in the six spot and, more predominantly lately, the two hole. On the mound, senior Sarah Sterman returns as the clear number one starter, tossing over 47 innings this spring and sporting a 1.78 ERA. Big Red has been very streaky this year, winning its first five, then losing its next three, winning the next four, then dropping the next three.

YALE

Last year: 27-23, 9-5

This spring: 5-9

Gone are First Team All-Ivy members Jesseka Bartholomew and Laura Beckert. Well, not exactly. While both have graduated, Beckert has joined the Bulldog coaching staff as a volunteer assistant while she studies for her MBA at Yale. Still, the Bulldogs are not despairing, with senior First Team All-Ivy shortstop Leah Kelley and a pair of Second Team All-Ivy members coming back. Sophomore Beth Pavlicek can both pitch and hit, and led the Bulldogs in ERA (1.50), strikeouts (71), and home runs (three). Junior catcher Kristy Kwiatkowski matched Pavlicek’s home run total and also threw out 15 potential base stealers last season. Already this season Yale has been on the wrong side of a display of magnificence. On March 8, in Kissimmee, Florida, Creighton’s Abby Johnson threw a perfect game against the Bulldogs, striking out ten and not allowing a single Yale baserunner.

COLUMBIA

Last year: 20-22, 6-8

This spring: 10-9

Last season, the Lions handed Harvard its third straight loss to open the season and effectively force the Crimson to win out to have a chance at an Ivy title. This year, Columbia returns to the diamond with the 2003 Ivy Pitcher of the Year, sophomore Jackie Adelfio. She amassed 70 Ks in 70 innings this season, along with a 2.19 ERA. With sophomore Megan Ivey, Columbia claims of the most talented young pitching staffs. Lion hurlers have limited their opponents to a .209 batting average so far this spring. Junior first baseman Marisa Marconi has been destructive with the bat, hitting .344 with 11 RBI and two home runs.

BROWN

Last year: 16-23, 5-9

This spring: 4-4

Another solid Brown team that again enters a season with high expectations. The Bears feel that this is one of the most talented and deep teams that have worn the Brown and White in a while. Thus far, the Bears have been paced offensively by sophomore catcher Jaimie Wirkowski (batting .500), junior pitcher/outfielder Marissa Berkes (.400), and senior First Team All-Ivy second baseman Laura Leonetti (.375). Berkes has also been the Bears best option in the pitching circle, carrying a 2.01 ERA through 22 and a third innings this year.

PENN

Last year: 10-27-1, 3-11

This spring: 6-11

New season, new coach for the Quakers. Taking the helm is Leslie King Moore, former coach of George Washington University. For 14 years, King Moore was the starting shortstop of the New Zealand National softball team and served as captain of the squad that qualified for the Olympics in 2000. She was named the 2000 New Zealand Player of the Year and her team won a silver medal at the world championships that same season. It’s definitely more exciting to talk about the coach than the team, which last year posted its 21st straight losing record in Ivy play. Penn has been getting a strong stick from senior Erin O’Brien, who has hit .342 with three home runs and 11 RBI, this spring, but has not been getting much of anything from its pitching staff. Opponents are lighting up the Quaker staff for over seven and half earned runs a game while hitting .328.

DARTMOUTH

Last year: 13-21, 5-9

This spring: 0-5

Senior ace Danica Giugliano, a second-team all-Ivy selection, is coming off an impressive year in which she threw 15 complete games and tallied 100 strikeouts while maintaining a 1.24 ERA. Sophomore centerfielder Jessica Reiten has busted out of the gates, batting at a .438 clip in the Big Green’s first five games.

Another Second Team All-Ivy member, sophomore Alicia Petryk, has moved from third to first base, and in pre-League play has swung for a .400 average.

—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.