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For the second week in a row, Yale softball’s (8–17, 6–6 Ivy) mid-week game was canceled. 

The previous week’s game against Quinnipiac, scheduled for April 6, was canceled due to weather conditions. This week, both Yale Athletics and University of Hartford Athletics did not provide an explanation for the cancellation of the University of Hartford game on April 13. This time, weather was not the issue as Wednesday was a great day to play softball with clear skies and a temperature high of 66 degrees Fahrenheit. 

With a full week to practice and recover following Yale’s crucial series win against Columbia last weekend, Yale looks to continue its strong play as it faces Princeton (16–13–1, 8–4) at home for the fifth conference series of the season. The Tigers are currently ranked second in the Ancient Eight. The series victory against the Lions helped the Bulldogs move into fourth place in the Ivy League.

“We worked through a lot of adversity this year and weekend, with sickness and injury, and I felt grateful to have had a role in shifting the momentum and getting us some runs,” Willa Ferrer ’24 said about her performance last weekend.

The Elis third baseman had an impressive weekend at the plate with an RBI in every game of the series, including a two-run homer in game three. The games against Columbia also included incredible pitching from Nicole Conway ’23, who pitched in all three games for a total of 14.2 innings. She pitched the full game for the second and third game of the series after relieving Maddie Latta ’25 in game one after five innings. In the six innings Conway pitched in game two, Columbia only earned two runs off of five hits. 

Conway leads the Bulldogs’ pitchers with an ERA of 4.77. Latta comes in second with a 5.12 ERA. With Conway pitching in all three games this past weekend, it is unclear whether she will be able to build off the momentum from the Columbia series or whether she will be given some rest and pitch as a closer instead.

Conway is one of only three upperclassmen on the Yale softball team this season and one of only two on the active roster with captain Kortney Ponce ’22 out with an ACL injury. Comparatively, over half of Princeton’s team — nine of 17 total players — consists of upperclassmen.

“Being such a young team, I don’t think Ivy play was at all what I expected. The team has learned that anyone can take any given series, no matter the opponent,” catcher Sam Goodcase ’24 wrote in an email to the News. “It has been awesome to be able to play my first season with this group and I think as a team we are all looking forward to settling in and finding our footing in the Ivy League!”

Ivy play has been a mixed bag for Yale. The young team has won series against Dartmouth and Columbia this season but struggled against Brown, who is in last place in the Ivy League. 

Princeton has also learned that anyone can take a series. The Tigers swept the Bears and beat the Crimson yet lost to the Big Green this season.

The Bulldogs have their work cut out for them this weekend in the pitching circle as Princeton’s Sophia Marsalo is on a hot streak. In four games against Cornell and Monmouth, the rookie had a batting average of .769 after being 10 for 13 at the plate including five RBIs and three doubles. For her performance, she received both Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week awards. 

In the batter’s box, Yale will most likely face Ali Blanchard, who has an ERA of just 2.65, and Alexis Laudenslager, who has a 2.69 ERA. The two pitchers have pitched in most of Princeton’s games. 

Game two of the series against Princeton will be nationally televised on ESPNU. The game marks the first time in program history that a game will be nationally broadcasted.

“We are ecstatic for the opportunity to showcase Yale Softball, and especially our hard-working student-athletes, on ESPNU,” head coach Jen Goodwin told Yale Athletics in February. “The Ivy League plays some great softball, so to have the chance to host Princeton at 5K Corral Field at DeWitt Family Stadium on the national stage is so special for our program.”

Due to rain in the forecast for Saturday afternoon, Yale and Princeton will play a single game on Saturday with the first pitch at 11:00 a.m., and the doubleheader will take place on Sunday also starting at 11:00 a.m. Originally, the doubleheader was scheduled for Saturday with only one game on Sunday.