PRINCETON, N.J. – Harvard and Princeton each won a game on Friday to begin the best-of-three Ivy League Playoff Series at Strubing Field. The Crimson overcame a rain delay and claimed Game 1 in 10 innings, 5-2, before coming up short, 8-4, in the second contest of the afternoon. Harvard is now 22-19, while the Tigers moved to 26-15-2.
 
In Game 1, Harvard jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third despite getting zero hits. Second-team all-Ivy performer Morgan Melito opened the frame by getting hit by a pitch and advanced on a one-out fielder's choice off the bat of Allison Heffley. Both runners advanced on wild pitches with Melito later tagging from third on a Madi Mays foul out to left.
 
The Crimson tacked on another run in the next inning, again, using a leadoff free pass to dent the scoreboard. This time, a Trina Hoang walk turned into the Crimson's second run after she advanced on an Ella Lee groundout and later scored when pinch-hitter Molly Dickerson sent a shot to short. Princeton's throw to first was high, which allowed Hoang to easily score.
 
A pair of scoreless frames followed and after the Crimson was kept off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, the Tigers opened their last at-bat with a single. An out later, Lauren Sablone tripled to right and Serena Starks delivered a deep drive to center that fell in for a double to tie the game at 2-2, chasing Anna Reed. Katie Arrambide got Harvard out of the jam thanks to a pair of nice grabs by Teagan Shaw and Hoang at third and second base, respectively.
 
Arrambide blanked Princeton over the next two innings as the game moved to the 10^th. Heffley led off the frame, singling on an 0-2 pitch, and was moved to second as a result of Mays' second sac bunt of the afternoon. Shaw was hit by a pitch and Hoang delivered the go-ahead RBI on a single to right only to have Lee follow with a successful squeeze play. Rain began to fall and right before the game was delayed, Melito drew a bases-loaded walk to put Harvard ahead, 5-2.
 
After a 23-minute pause, the game resumed and Arrambide shut down the Tigers in the home half of the 10^th to secure Game 1.
 
In the second game, Princeton scored the first run of the game, but the Crimson answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Harvard put its first three hitters on base and Mays came up big, dropping in a single just inside the right-field line to score Melito and Lauren Bobowski. Then, during Shaw's at-bat, Tigers pitcher Ali Blanchard threw a wild pitch, allowing Heffley to slide into home ahead of the tag.
 
Princeton re-took the lead in the top of the fourth inning with a three-spot only to have Harvard respond in the bottom of the fifth with a Lee double to right-center that scored Hoang, who reached on a double of her own. The Hoang run leveled the score at 4-4.
 
The Tigers provided what ended up being the deciding blow in the top of the sixth when they scored four runs to provide the final four-run margin.
 
Both teams will return to the diamond on Saturday with the 2022 Ivy title and an NCAA tournament berth on the line. First pitch is scheduled for noon ET with the contest airing live on ESPN+.