Batswomen Split With Eagles

It was a split, but this was more than a split.

The Harvard softball team pulled off a big 4-2 second-game win yesterday at Chestnut Hill over the defending ECAC champions, Boston College, to avenge a 4-0 loss in the opener.

In taking game two, the Crimson (6-5) not only snapped a three-game losing streak, but did so in a manner which bodes well for the rest of its season.

Seeing-Eye Eagles

The first game did not see Harvard at its best. While the Crimson found hits hard to come by, the Eagles touched pitcher Julie Fromholz for a few timely seeing-eye base hits.

Harvard wasn't necessarily playing poorly--it simply wasn't playing at the level necessary to defeat a top-flight opponent such as B.C.

Game two was another story.

"In between games, we got really fired up," Captain Nancy Prior said. "We knew we were going to take them."

The Crimson's confidence was immediately boosted as it broke out to an early 2-0 lead, sparked by Beth Wambach's booming triple.

With good pitching from Lee Polikoff, Harvard was able to hold its lead into the fourth inning.

But after the Eagles battled back to tie the score, 2-2, Coach Barry Haskell decided to install Fromholz in relief.

The freshman shut down B.C. the rest of the game, aided by spectacular defensive play behind her. Shortstop Rachel Donaldson was a vacuum cleaner, robbing base hits deep into the hole as well as up the middle. In centerfield, Liz Crowley also made a huge play, gunning down a B.C. player at home plate.

Harvard put two more runs on the board and the upset was complete.

"The second game was a real testing point for us," Prior said. "We had to show that we could dig in. We made every play necessary to win."

The win proves that the Crimson can compete with and even beat the best teams in the northeast.

Let's Play Two

Harvard's next northeastern challenger is Maine. The Crimson will host a doubleheader against the Black Bears today at Soldiers Field at 3 p.m.