Even though it won three straight games before heading to New England last weekend for doubleheaders at Dartmouth and Harvard, the Princeton University softball team realized that it needed more punch.

“We took the preparation for Dartmouth and Harvard very seriously, we knew it was going to be a challenge,” said Princeton head coach Lisa Van Ackeren, whose team started Ivy League play with a doubleheader sweep of Brown on March 28 and then edged Rider 5-4 three days later.

“We saw things that we could have done better against Rider and Brown. A big thing is offensive production and transferring how we hit in practice to a game situation. We have to take the RBI situation as an opportunity rather than having fear.”

Against Dartmouth last Friday, lack of offensive production proved to be an issue as the Tigers fell 5-0 and 8-0 to the Big Green.

“Kristen Rumley and Morgan McCalmon are two of the best pitchers we are going to see in the league; they are tough and seasoned,” said Van Ackeren.

“They have been their No. 1 and 2 for the last three years. We competed well, we hope to see them again this season.”

A day later at Harvard, the Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning but never scored again as the Crimson got runs in the third and seventh to pull out a 2-1 victory. In the nightcap, Harvard scored three runs in the bottom of the first and went on to a 6-1 victory.

“We got one in the first and then we wiggled out of some jams, Shanna (Christian) did a good job on the mound and we had some nice defensive plays,” said Van Ackeren, reflecting on the opener.

“We threatened to score but we came up short and then they got that bottom of the seventh at home energy.”

With Princeton currently hitting at a .225 clip, Van Ackeren is looking for the team’s bats to come alive.

“We understand that we have to execute better in the box and not be tentative,” said Van Ackeren. “We need to work on attacking situations; we have the capability to do that. It is more of a mental thing, they have the ability to hit.”

Despite its tough weekend which left it at 10-17 overall and 2-4 Ivy League,  Princeton is very much in the mix in the Ivy’s South Division, trailing frontrunner Columbia (8-16 overall, 5-3 Ivy) by two games.

“The Ivy South is wide open,” said Van Ackeren. “The Ivy League is so interesting, a couple of wins can change things around.”

Princeton could make things very interesting in the Ivy South race as it hosts Columbia for doubleheaders on April 11 and 12.

“I think this weekend will be a great opportunity,” said Van Ackeren, whose team also has a game at Rutgers on April 8.

“It is a low scoring team against a low scoring team, pitching and defense will be the biggest factors. The team that is able to get the most offensive production will have an advantage. They are on a roll and we have faced some adversity that we have to overcome. It is our first game at home. We have a good campus following and are expecting a good crowd. A lot of people have been waiting to see us play.”