Princeton broke out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Then the game turned into a defensive struggle. Beth Reilly made four straight spectacular catches to rob Princeton of at least two runs, and junior Lee Polikoff and Co-Captain Lora Rowning combined to shut down the Tiger bats.
In the top of the fifth, Princeton received a huge break. With runners on first and third, freshman Vicki Pisowicz grounded a ball down the third base line. The ball hit third base and bounded into left field, scoring two Tigers. The 3-0 lead was looming large.
The Crimson mounted a serious threat in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners on second and third with one out. But when Prior grounded hard to short, there was a little confusion on the basepaths. When the dust cleared, Princeton had turned a douple play. And Harvard remained scoreless.
"We did very well just to get to this point," first-year Coach Barry Haskell said. "We played well, and we played hard. The effort and desire of all 15 players was unquestioned. But Princeton is a very good team, and we just didn't have the timely hitting."
"Our program is definitely on the rise," Haskell added. "The seniors did a tremendous job in sending our program in the right direction."
"The games were really disappointing and frustrating," Prior said, "but we had a great year. Looking back on it, the season as a whole was very satisfying."
THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard had 12 hits on the day, while Princeton racked up 21... Last season the Crimson finished fourth in the Ivy title race last season, and has never before played for the championship...Four seniors played their last game in a Harvard uniform--Prior, Rowning, centerfielder Liz Crowley and designated hitter Brita Lind... The tripledigit attendance is believed to be the largest ever for a Harvard softball game...All fifteen Crimson players saw action in the contest.
Past Ivy Softball Champions 1980 Yale 1981 Pennsylvania 1982 Brown 1983 Princeton 1984 Princeton 1985 Princeton 1986 Brown Princeton 1987 Princeton 1988 Princeton