HITTING THE NATIONAL STAGE: Princeton University softball player Marissa Reynolds goes after a pitch in recent action. Junior outfielder Reynolds has hit .271 this spring and started 44 games for the Ivy League champion Tigers. Princeton, now 23-26 overall, will be playing in the NCAA tournament this weekend. The Tigers were sent to the Harrisonburg (Va.) Regional, where they will face host No. 7 James Madison (46-4) on May 20 in the first game of the double-elimination competition with North Carolina (31-23) and Longwood (38-18) the other two teams playing at the site. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For the Princeton University softball team, its best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series at Harvard earlier this month turned into a Boston Marathon.

Princeton won the first game 2-1 on May 7 then trailed 7-1 in the sixth inning of game two when it was suspended due to darkness after a lengthy rain delay. The completion of the series was ultimately moved to May 10 and the Tigers lost game two and then produced a marathon eight-run second inning in game three and cruised to an 8-3 win and the program’s first Ivy title since 2008.

Princeton head coach Lisa Van Ackeren was proud of how her players went the distance and rose to the occasion.

“You win a championship over three days in less than ideal conditions at Harvard; I think it is a testament to growth and resilience,” said Van Ackeren, whose team, now 23-26 overall, was sent to the Harrisonburg Regional of the NCAA tournament where it will face host No. 7 James Madison (46-4) on May 20 in the first game of the double-elimination weekend with North Carolina (31-23) and Longwood (38-18) the other two teams at the site.

“That showed over the course of the season and over spring break for us, which was a tough run, and then they came back and understood that our goal was to continue to get better. When the team buys into that, really exciting things can happen at the end of the season and they did for us. It was very cool.”

Senior lefty pitcher Shanna Christian showed toughness in game one against the Crimson, as she gave up seven hits, walked four, struck out seven, and carried a shutout into the sixth inning.

“Shanna has just been mentally preparing for this game, maybe for four years,” said Van Ackeren.

“She is just one of those kids who has been dreaming big ever since she was a freshman and wanting to take the program to new heights. Her preparation showed up right from the beginning. She knew she was going to be a crucial piece for us in the championship series and just threw her heart out on Saturday. It was one the best performances I have ever seen from her in four years.”

During the delay, the Tigers worked on their studies and devising a more aggressive offensive mentality.

“They spent the day in the hotel in a conference room doing school work,” said Van Ackeren.

“I think the rest helped some of our team who was banged up a little bit. Our mood was that Harvard was up in game two and regardless if they win this game, game three is going to be awesome. We tried to make sure that set the tone right away in the continuation of game two that we are going to score more runs than just three on the weekend. Having better quality at bats was something we talked about on our off day and it showed up on Monday with a much better approach.”

That approach was exemplified in the pivotal second inning of game three when the Tigers exploded for eight runs.

“I was really impressed by our kids; we did have to make an adjustment to our approach and our at bats against their pitching staff,” said Van Ackeren.

“We were committed to having better at bats and a really good approach. I was just impressed that we did that right out of the chute there. We had great at-bats right from the beginning of the game so it was exciting that we were setting a better tone, whatever the outcome was going to be.”

Christian closed the deal in the circle, going all seven innings and scattering eight hits.

“Shanna has been a little banged up, she has been battling some injuries all year,” said Van Ackeren.

“She kind of looked at me in the fifth inning and it was don’t even bother, I am going to finish this game. It was understood this was her moment. She was going to close this out for her team, no matter what it takes. Luckily we had some cushion and our defense made some really incredible plays behind her; Danielle Dockx came up with one of the most clutch catches with an incredible effort.”

The Tigers are going to enjoy the moment as they prepare this week for the NCAA appearance.

“Practices are going to be really fun, it is all a bonus at this point,” said Van Ackeren.

“We set out to win the league, that was our goal. Now it is establishing Princeton and establishing the Ivy League name on a national scale by playing good softball.”

In order to keep playing good ball, Princeton will focus on staying sharp at the plate and in the circle.

“We try to prepare our kids as much as we can for some of the type of pitching we are going to see,” said Van Ackeren, a former star pitcher at Lehigh.

“I evolve as a batting practice thrower through the week; doing a little research to try to best prepare them for what we are going to see and what our game plan is going to be offensively going into those games. For the pitchers, it is getting them to throw some live to our hitters and making sure they are keeping that competitive edge.”