Weekend Update

TigerBlog received a text message yesterday morning that said simply: "Craig Robinson and Leslie Robinson."

Even without any context, TB knew exactly what it meant. He wrote yesterday that he was wondering if there'd be any other parent/child combination to have both been first-team All-Ivy League selections after Cooper Mueller (men's lacrosse) matched his father Kit (three times in basketball) this week. 

TB said he had to be overlooking someone obvious. Craig and Leslie Robinson are about as obvious as it gets. 

He hasn't heard from anyone else about anyone else, so maybe there aren't any others? He'll let you know if he thinks of another combo, or if someone alerts him to one. 

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The Ivy League women's lacrosse tournament will be held on Sherrerd Field this weekend, beginning at 4 this afternoon with top-seeded Princeton against fourth-seeded Brown, followed by second-seeded Yale and third-seeded Penn. 

The final will be Sunday at noon, and the winner gets the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Like the Princeton men who are playing at Cornell this weekend, the Princeton women are assured of an NCAA tournament at-large spot if they don't win the tournament. 

That hardly means that there is no incentive this weekend, since Princeton is playing for the best possible NCAA seeding and to play at home. The Tigers enter the tournament with an RPI of four, which is as impressive as it sounds. The goal is to make it all the way to Foxboro, site of the men's and women's Final Four Memorial Day weekend.

Princeton has appeared in all but one Ivy women's lacrosse tournament, and that was back in 2012. The Tigers' streak of 11 straight is the longest in history, and the team's six Ivy tournament championships is also the most of any team. 

As a side note, McKenzie Blake enters the weekend one goal away from tying Kyla Sears' school career record of 209. The Princeton women rank second in the country in fewest turnovers per game. It must be something in the water: The men rank third in the same stat.

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The softball team is at Brown for three in a series that has had its schedule shifted, with one game this afternoon at 4 and then a doubleheader tomorrow at noon. 

The Ivy League tournament for softball will be next weekend, and it will be at one of these two schools. Princeton has already clinched at least a share of the league title — but not the host role yet. 

To do so, the Tigers need to win one of the three games this weekend. A Brown sweep puts the tournament right back on the same field in Providence, and no other team other than Princeton or Brown can host. 

Princeton leads the Ivy League in batting average in all games. Brown leads the Ivy League in ERA in all games. 

In league games only, Princeton leads in batting average, ERA and fielding percentage. That's a good place to start for a championship team. 

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The baseball team heads to Cornell for two games tomorrow and one more Sunday. After that, Princeton may or may not have to make up a game against Harvard, depending on whether or not it impacts the Ivy League tournament race.

Yale, Columbia and Penn are all in the tournament, which will be held at one of those three campuses next weekend. Right now, The Bulldogs and Lions are tied for first, one game ahead of the Quakers. 

Princeton is part of a four-team mix, along with the Big Red, Dartmouth and Harvard for the final spot. 

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As May moves along, there are still five Ivy League titles still on the line, in men's and women's track and field and in men's heavyweight and lightweight and women's open rowing. Heps track and field will be held next weekend at Yale, where Princeton will look to finish off Triple Crowns for both the men and the women. 

The complete schedule for this weekend is HERE. 

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Finally, TigerBlog sends congratulations to his colleague Stacey Bunting, who will be leaving Princeton to become the Director of Athletics at Bates College in the NESCAC.  

You can read the release about her hire HERE.

There are not a lot of NCAA Director of Athletics jobs out there. Getting one puts you in an elite class in the world of college athletic administration. To have that opportunity anywhere is extraordinary. 

To do so in a conference as respected as the NESCAC is even more so. Good luck to Stacey, and go Bobcats.