Eyeing the Tigers for 3 wins

It was Penn softball’s last weekend to prove its place.

Following a roller coaster season in which the Quakers won as many as six in a row, the squad entered a four game stand with Princeton this weekend having lost six of its past seven.

However, the Red and Blue didn’t disappoint, winning three of four.

After earning a pair of victories in Friday’s doubleheader by scores of 8-5 and 11-7 respectively, the Quakers suffered a 4-3 loss in Saturday’s nightcap.

In the opening game on Friday, the Quakers made their presence felt early, jumping out to a 4-0 first-inning lead. And despite giving up three unearned runs, they stretched their lead to 7-3 in the sixth.

Penn (16-21, 10-6 Ivy) came out even more determined in the second game, never having lost the lead. It scored seven runs through the first four innings and didn’t look back. Sophomore Justine Payne and freshman Brooke Coloma tallied two home runs apiece.

Saturday morning, Princeton (11-29, 5-11) was first to get on the scoreboard with a run in the opening inning. But Penn answered back with two runs of its own after Coloma hit her third home run of the weekend — and sixth this season. Payne capped the game with a two-run homer in the sixth.

Despite superior performances Friday, the Quakers never took complete control during Saturday afternoon’s 4-3 loss. In part two of the doubleheader, Penn scored early with Jessica Melendez’s first homer of the season, but the Tigers surged ahead in the fourth. Even with senior Susan Miller’s solo shot in the seventh, the Quakers were never able to regain the lead.

With the three additional wins, Penn sits in second place — behind Ivy League South division leader Cornell — and will enter the last weekend of the season with valuable momentum.

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