Light Blue softball to take on Princeton

The Columbia softball team (9-22, 1-7 Ivy) returns to conference action this weekend to host Ivy League South Division rival Princeton (7-25).

The Lions return home after a rough road stretch where the team lost five of six contests. Their only win on the trip came against nonconference opponent Fairleigh Dickinson, where the offense was able to slug its way to a 12-8 victory behind Kayla Lechler’s first career home run, a fourth inning grand slam.

Last season, the Light Blue was swept in a four game series against the Tigers in New Jersey, although each game was decided by two runs or less. Junior Anne Marie Skylis had one of her best stretches of the season, hitting .400 (4-for-10) with a walk and two RBI in the series.

For the Tigers, senior Jamie Lettire threw a complete game win where she allowed just two earned runs off of seven hits on April 12. She turned in a similar performance the next day, allowing five earned runs in seven innings for her fifth win last season. However, Lettire’s numbers have regressed from last year. Her ERA has gone from a 4.04 in 102 1/3 innings last year to one of over 7.00 in her first 77 2/3 innings of 2010.

Overall, this season has been a struggle for a Princeton team that won the Ivy League championship just two years ago. This season they sit at the bottom of the South Division standings and currently sport the worst overall record in the league.

So far, Princeton has relied on two freshman starters to carry it this season. Right-hander Alex Peyton is off to a promising start in her collegiate career. She leads her team with a 3.16 ERA and has 19 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. Liza Kuhn has a 4.77 ERA in a team high 80 2/3 innings with 35 strikeouts.

On offense, catcher Sarah Rounsifer is hitting .296 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 32 games. Lettire has been having a better season at the plate than on the mound with a .290 batting average, with a team-high eight home runs to go with 17 RBI in 100 at-bats.

Senior Kelsey Quist has knocked in 24 runs and has five home runs in 85 at-bats.

Columbia and Princeton will play all four games this weekend in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday with start times of 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.