Harvard Falls in Ivy Championship Series, Princeton Claims Ancient Eight Title

Despite coming out on top in game two to force a third game, Harvard (29-17, 16-4 Ivy League) fell to Princeton (23-26, 14-6) 8-3, giving the South Division Champion Tigers the Ivy League title after defeating the North Division Champion Crimson two games to one.

“Being in the Ivy Championship series is an honor and testament to the hard work our team put in over the past year,” co-captain Morgan Groom said. “Unfortunately things didn’t go the way we wanted them to, but I’m proud of the grit our team showed, not just this weekend but all season.”

Princeton 8, Harvard 3

The Tigers took command of the game early, scoring all of their runs in the second inning. Princeton’s Keeley Walsh set the standard for the inning with a leadoff double and was the first Tiger to score after a single by Marissa Reynolds. Despite going to the bullpen early after freshman Sarah Smith allowed three runs, junior Taylor Cabe was unable to slow the Tiger’s hot bats. Eight runs had crossed the plate by the time the team recorded its third out.

Harvard’s offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth, as freshman Meaghan Lantz walked to start the inning. A series of small-ball plays brought Lantz home —moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, third on a single, and home on a fielder’s choice.

The Crimson knocked in another two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Harvard was unable to rally for the win and Princeton took home the Ivy League title.

“We may not have won the championship but we did accomplish a lot of good things that we'll take into next year so we can win the championship,” Rich said. “It was a tough loss but this team showed a lot of grit, and I think this season we proved that we are a big force and we are looking forward to next season.”

Harvard 7, Princeton 1

The Crimson responded to the opening loss with strong bats. Harvard was leading Princeton 7-1 when in the bottom of the sixth the umpires called the game due to darkness. The game was scheduled to continue the next day Sunday May 8th at 3:30, but rain pushed the game back to Monday at noon.

“Delays demand additional focus from teams, and I felt we kept that focus,” Groom said.

Before the interruption, Kaplan, junior Giana Panariello, and co-captain Zoe Galindo recorded two hits apiece, with both of Panariello’s hits driving a runner home for a game-high two RBIs.

Junior Taylor Cabe started in the circle pitching two strikeouts and allowing five hits and one run over five innings. Smith relieved Cabe and closed the game with one strikeout and no hits.

The Crimson notched two hits and scored a run to start off the game, with Rich making it home after Lantz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Harvard scored two more runs in the third to put the Crimson up, 3-0.

Harvard increased its lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth, as Galindo led off the inning with triple and Kaplan followed suit with a triple of her own to drive the Las Vegas, Nev. senior home. Kaplan then scored after a sacrifice fly by Rich.

Princeton answered with its first run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Crimson halted the tigers momentum with two more runs in the top of the sixth to widen the spread.

Cabe was three pitches into the sixth inning when umpires postponed the game. The last inning and a half continued on Monday with no hits on either side, forcing a third game in the series.

Princeton 2 Harvard 1

Kaplan led the offense with a game-high three hits in the opening contest against the Tigers. Rich, Panariello, Freshman Elizabeth Shively, and Senior Haley Davis all tallied a hit for the Crimson with Davis’s single driving in Harvard’s sole run of the game. The Crimson was unable to match Princeton two solo homers falling 2-1 to the Tigers.

Groom started on the mound and pitched for the first four innings, tossing two strikeouts while letting up four hits and two runs. Groom was relieved one out into the fifth by freshman Sarah Smith, who earned two strikeouts and held Princeton to no hits for the rest of the game.

A rain delay stopped play for nearly two hours in the bottom of the fifth with one out on the board for Harvard. When the game resumed, the Harvard offensive play picked up recording four hits and their only run of the contest. Despite out hitting the Tigers 7-4, Harvard was unable to pull out the win combining to leave four runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings.

—Staff writer Ginny Miller can be reached at virginia.miller@thecrimson.com.