Batswomen Knock Off B.U., 6-2, in Home Opener

Be it ever so humble, there's nothing like a home opener.

And although the Harvard softball team didn't play the prettiest game imaginable in its Soldiers Field kicker-offer yesterday, it nonetheless walked away with a satisfying 6-2 triumph over Boston University.

For the second afternoon in a row, the Crimson (now 2-0) scored first and stayed ahead for good--but unlike Monday's crisp two-hitter over Wheaton, yesterday's game featured grind-it-out play on the part of both squads.

And when it came right down to it, the batswomen were able to grub a little better than the Terriers.

"We were a little lackadaisical, a little sloppy starting off," said Harvard Coach John Wentzell. "B.U. certainly wasn't an Ivy-quality team, but we have a week and a half to get ready for that, to work our bugs out."

The Crimson plays a non-league schedule until the weekend of April 12-13, when it travels south to face Penn and Ivy powerhouse Princeton.

In the interim, the batswomen will have time to mount an extermination campaign against some of the bugs that scuttled into light yesterday--namely sloppy baserunning and hesitant fielding.

And simultaneously, Harvard will hone its munching skills and continue to feast on teams like the Terriers.

Even though both squads committed an equal number of errors (two apiece), Harvard picked up a pair of runs off miscues, while B.U. only garnered one.

Even though Crimson hurler Gerri Rubin wasn't in peak form yesterday--yielding seven hits over the course of the seven-inning contest--she settled down in the middle innings to stifle any Terrier comeback hopes.

And even though the hosts had just two more hits than the visitors, they cooked up a winning concoction of hits, walks, and B.U. errors.

Harvard jumped ahead in the bottom of the first, as Terrier infielders mangled their first two chances resulting in a pronto pair of runs.

B.U. second baseman Beth Marcus stroked a home run down the right field line in the top of the second, but the Crimson responded promptly in the bottom of the frame, to pull to a commanding 5-1 lead.

A Mary Baldauf triple and walks to Lisa Rowning and Sharon Hayes loaded the bases for Harvard, and Trisha Brown brought one duck home with a single up the middle.

Freshman Elizabeth Crowley--the only lefty in the Crimson lineup--completed the damage with a two-run single to left-center.

In the top of the third, however, Harvard's defense caused a minor scare.

After the Terrier leadoff batter reached second on a high throw from shortstop Hayes, Ann Concemi squared to bunt--and received a pitch in the dirt from Rubin. Undaunted, she golfed the ball towards the mound, and Rubin's throw sailed over first-sacker Brown's head, allowing the run to score.

But B.U. could only rake up the single tally, and the Crimson escaped the inning with a three-run advantage.

Rubin--who won 11 games last year--hit her stride in the fourth inning, and faced just 10 batters over the final four frames. In fact, the senior co-captain--who did not yield a single walk--threw a mere 64 pitches on the afternoon.

"Gerri really got stronger as the game went on," Wentzell said. "They had hit her pretty hard in the first few innings."

With the 5-2 lead inching up to 6-2 on a Brown line-drive round-tripper in the bottom of the sixth, however, Rubin had all the offensive support necessary to cop her first victory of the season.

"We're swinging the bats well, hitting the ball on the nose," Wentzell said.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard next sees action tomorrow afternoon, when it travels to MIT for a 3:30 p.m. start...B.U.'s two pitchers, Meredith Fuherer and Lisa Sliwinski, combined for three walks and three whiffs...The Terriers are now 0-2, with a previous, 8-4 loss to Gordon College...Yardling Nancy Prior got her first collegiate start, playing right field for the Crimson and going 1-for-3 at the plate...Mary Sheehan notched the first bunt-single for the batswomen, in the third inning.