Sooners Sock Softball Twice in NCAA Regional

All good things must come to an end, and so it went for the Harvard softball team this weekend.

Harvard (34-22, 12-0 Ivy) had its historic season come to an end in the NCAA Regionals on Totman Field in Amherst, courtesy of seventh-ranked powerhouse Oklahoma (49-15).

The Crimson dropped its opening game of the double-elimination Regional to the Sooners, 8-0, on Friday afternoon. Although Harvard bounced back to eliminate Boston College (38-14-1) in convincing fashion, 11-2, on Saturday, the Crimson was then ousted by Oklahoma in the Region Five semifinals, 3-0, later in the day.

Harvard's 34 victories represent the most in school history. The Regional semifinals also represent the farthest Harvard has ever gone in the postseason.

"We definitely had a good showing and turned a lot of people's heads," said Harvard co-captain Jenny Franzese. "I definitely felt like we belonged there." HARVARD  0 OKLAHOMA  8 HARVARD  11 BOSTON COLLEGE  2 HARVARD  0 OKLAHOMA  3

UMass (45-12) won the Region and advanced to the Women's College World Series along with the winners of the other seven regions. The Minutewomen defeated Boston College, 3-2, in the Region's openinggame, before defeating Oklahoma once on Saturdayand again on Sunday to earn the World Series spot.

UMass junior pitcher Danielle Henderson pickedup all three victories for the Minutewomen and wasnamed the Region Five Most Outstanding Player forthe second consecutive year. Henderson struck out33 batters in her 21 innings and posted a 0.33ERA.

Oklahoma 8, Harvard 0

Harvard had a difficult time touchingOklahoma's pitching all weekend, and that factbecame apparent early on in the Crimson's openinggame. Oklahoma senior Jennifer Jaime (16-4) threwa complete game one-hitter to earn the shutout andend Harvard's 11-game winning streak, the thirdlongest in the nation.

Jaime's counterpart, Harvard freshman ChelseaThoke, was ineffective against a Sooners lineupthat was strong from spots one through nine. Afterkeeping Oklahoma off the scoreboard for threeinnings, Thoke allowed one run in the fourth, twoin the fifth and five in the sixth. She gave upseven earned runs and six walks on 12 hits whilestriking out five batters in five and two-thirdsinnings.

"You have to be on top of your game all thetime because the bottom of their lineup can hurtyou as much as the top," Thoke said after thegame. "It definitely tired me out having to workso hard on all nine batters."

Juniors Lynette Velasquez and Stephanie Clarkeach had 2-for-3, three-RBI days at the plate forOklahoma. Clark's fourth inning double into leftcenterfield brought junior Deborah Hargrave aroundfor the first run of the game. The Sooners addedtwo more in the fifth on an RBI double by seniorRachel Johnson and a throwing error by Harvardjunior co-captain and Ivy League Player of theYear Tara LaSovage.

Harvard's slim hopes of pulling off the upsetwere dashed in the sixth when Oklahoma explodedfor five runs, all coming with two outs. Velasquezstarted the scoring when she came up with thebases loaded and stroked a base-clearing doubleinto the right centerfield gap to double theSooners' lead to 6-0.

Johnson followed with a walk, and a single byfreshman Jaime White loaded the bases again forClark. The leftfielder plated Velasquez andJohnson with a single into center, making thescore 8-0 and invoking the mercy rule to end thegame.

"The key to hitting well is makingadjustments," said Harvard sophomore shortstopDeborah Abeles. "It was obvious as the game wenton that we weren't making the right adjustments."

Harvard's lone hit of the game came courtesy ofjunior catcher Terri Teller. Teller singled toleft with one out in the top of the fourth.

Harvard 11, Boston College 2

Harvard's lack of offensive production againstOklahoma may have inspired the Crimson thefollowing afternoon. Harvard busted out for 11runs on a season-high 16 hits to demolish itscrosstown rivals.

Harvard was led by Franzese's 4-for-4 day,including two singles and two doubles, andTeller's 3-for-5, three-RBI performance.

Senior pitcher Tasha Cupp (17-5) picked up thefinal win of her fine collegiate career. The IvyLeague Pitcher of the Year gave up just three hitsand two unearned runs while striking out three infive innings of work. Thoke pitched the sixth andseventh to pick up her fourth save of the season.

"We didn't hit very well on Friday, and thatmade us hungry against B.C," Franzese said. "I waspleased. All of our bats came alive against B.C.,and I was excited about that."

Boston College jumped out to a 2-0 lead in thebottom of the fourth when sophomore Chris Vicarisent a two-out, two-RBI single into center. TheEagles' lead, however, would be short-lived as theCrimson scored three times in the top of thefifth.

Harvard's first run came across the plate whenFranzese scorched a one-out double into center toscore sophomore Crystal Springer from second.Sophomore Deborah Abeles followed with a walk, andFranzese came in on a double by Teller. Abelesscored the eventual game-winner when seniorHillary Read reached on a throwing error by B.C.pitcher Lauren Fischetti.

But Harvard was not done. The Crimson chasedFischetti in the seventh with an eight-run scoringbarrage. Following a single and another B.C. errorto open the frame, Harvard scored three runs onfour consecutive singles to increase its advantageto 6-2.

Thoke contributed a two-RBI single later in theinning, and LaSovage and Franzese followed withconsecutive RBI doubles. Teller closed out theonslaught with a single into center that platedFranzese.

Oklahoma 3, Harvard 0

The Sooners made sure that there would be nomiraculous finish to Harvard's season with anothershutout victory in the Regional semifinal.Harvard's bats once again could not catch up toOklahoma's pitching, as the Crimson mustered justfour hits against Sooners' junior pitcher SophiaContreraz.

Senior pitcher `Heather Brown (3-7) took theloss for Harvard in her final collegiateappearance, allowing two runs on five hits in fourand one-third innings. Cupp capped off her careerwith two strikeouts, four hits and one run allowedin two and two-thirds innings of relief.

"All of our pitchers pitched well thisweekend," Franzese said. "Oklahoma is definitely astrong team, and they hit the ball well. They didwhat they had to do to win."

Oklahoma scored the only runs it would need inthe top of the fifth. Clark led off the inningswith a single and moved to second on a sacrificebunt by Hargrave. Freshman LaKisha Washingtondrove Clark in with a single to center.

After Washington moved to third, fellowfreshman Mandy Fulton executed a successfulsqueeze play to score Washington and extendOklahoma's lead to 2-0. The Sooners added aninsurance run in the seventh when freshman LisaCarey came around to score on a two-out double byfreshman Ashli Barrett.

Harvard's only scoring threat of the game camein the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Franzesedoubled into right and moved to third on agroundout by LaSovage. But Contreraz put the scareto rest by striking out Abeles.

Notes

Franzese and Teller were both honored for theirstrong showings in the Regionals with spots on theNCAA Region Five All-Region Team.

The weekend's games marked the end of thecareers of six Harvard seniors. Franzese, Cupp,Brown, Read, Mandy Wills and Tara Hartl--whoseoff-season shoulder surgery sidelined her for theentire year--will graduate as the first Harvardsoftball senior class to play in an NCAApostseason.

A couple of Harvard players finished theregular season ranked nationally in severalstatistical categories. Abeles was 20th in thecountry in batting with a .437 average and 16th inRBI with 53 in 53 games. Thoke was ranked 10thnationally in strikeouts per seven innings with anaverage of eight Ks per game.

OKLAHOMA 8, HARVARD 0 (6 INNINGS) at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  000  -  --  0  1  1Oklahoma  000  125  -  8  12  1

2B: OU--Myers, Velasquez, Johnson 2,Clark; Harvard--None.

WP: Jamie (16-4); LP: Thoke(14-10)

HARVARD 11, BOSTON COLLEGE 2 at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  030  8  --  11  16  2B.C.  000  200  0  --  2  3  2

2B: Harvard--LaSovage, Franzese 2,Teller; B.C.--None.

WP: Cupp (17-6); LP: Dietz (16-6)

OKLAHOMA 3, HARVARD 0 at Totman Field,Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  000  0  --  0  4  1Oklahoma  000  020  1  --  3  9  0

2B: OU--Barrett, Whitaker;Harvard--Franzese.

WP: Contreraz (10-2); LP: Brown(3-7)CrimsonJoshua J. SchankerCOACH A: Jenny Allard coached herteam to its best season ever, 34-22.

UMass (45-12) won the Region and advanced to the Women's College World Series along with the winners of the other seven regions. The Minutewomen defeated Boston College, 3-2, in the Region's openinggame, before defeating Oklahoma once on Saturdayand again on Sunday to earn the World Series spot.

UMass junior pitcher Danielle Henderson pickedup all three victories for the Minutewomen and wasnamed the Region Five Most Outstanding Player forthe second consecutive year. Henderson struck out33 batters in her 21 innings and posted a 0.33ERA.

Oklahoma 8, Harvard 0

Harvard had a difficult time touchingOklahoma's pitching all weekend, and that factbecame apparent early on in the Crimson's openinggame. Oklahoma senior Jennifer Jaime (16-4) threwa complete game one-hitter to earn the shutout andend Harvard's 11-game winning streak, the thirdlongest in the nation.

Jaime's counterpart, Harvard freshman ChelseaThoke, was ineffective against a Sooners lineupthat was strong from spots one through nine. Afterkeeping Oklahoma off the scoreboard for threeinnings, Thoke allowed one run in the fourth, twoin the fifth and five in the sixth. She gave upseven earned runs and six walks on 12 hits whilestriking out five batters in five and two-thirdsinnings.

"You have to be on top of your game all thetime because the bottom of their lineup can hurtyou as much as the top," Thoke said after thegame. "It definitely tired me out having to workso hard on all nine batters."

Juniors Lynette Velasquez and Stephanie Clarkeach had 2-for-3, three-RBI days at the plate forOklahoma. Clark's fourth inning double into leftcenterfield brought junior Deborah Hargrave aroundfor the first run of the game. The Sooners addedtwo more in the fifth on an RBI double by seniorRachel Johnson and a throwing error by Harvardjunior co-captain and Ivy League Player of theYear Tara LaSovage.

Harvard's slim hopes of pulling off the upsetwere dashed in the sixth when Oklahoma explodedfor five runs, all coming with two outs. Velasquezstarted the scoring when she came up with thebases loaded and stroked a base-clearing doubleinto the right centerfield gap to double theSooners' lead to 6-0.

Johnson followed with a walk, and a single byfreshman Jaime White loaded the bases again forClark. The leftfielder plated Velasquez andJohnson with a single into center, making thescore 8-0 and invoking the mercy rule to end thegame.

"The key to hitting well is makingadjustments," said Harvard sophomore shortstopDeborah Abeles. "It was obvious as the game wenton that we weren't making the right adjustments."

Harvard's lone hit of the game came courtesy ofjunior catcher Terri Teller. Teller singled toleft with one out in the top of the fourth.

Harvard 11, Boston College 2

Harvard's lack of offensive production againstOklahoma may have inspired the Crimson thefollowing afternoon. Harvard busted out for 11runs on a season-high 16 hits to demolish itscrosstown rivals.

Harvard was led by Franzese's 4-for-4 day,including two singles and two doubles, andTeller's 3-for-5, three-RBI performance.

Senior pitcher Tasha Cupp (17-5) picked up thefinal win of her fine collegiate career. The IvyLeague Pitcher of the Year gave up just three hitsand two unearned runs while striking out three infive innings of work. Thoke pitched the sixth andseventh to pick up her fourth save of the season.

"We didn't hit very well on Friday, and thatmade us hungry against B.C," Franzese said. "I waspleased. All of our bats came alive against B.C.,and I was excited about that."

Boston College jumped out to a 2-0 lead in thebottom of the fourth when sophomore Chris Vicarisent a two-out, two-RBI single into center. TheEagles' lead, however, would be short-lived as theCrimson scored three times in the top of thefifth.

Harvard's first run came across the plate whenFranzese scorched a one-out double into center toscore sophomore Crystal Springer from second.Sophomore Deborah Abeles followed with a walk, andFranzese came in on a double by Teller. Abelesscored the eventual game-winner when seniorHillary Read reached on a throwing error by B.C.pitcher Lauren Fischetti.

But Harvard was not done. The Crimson chasedFischetti in the seventh with an eight-run scoringbarrage. Following a single and another B.C. errorto open the frame, Harvard scored three runs onfour consecutive singles to increase its advantageto 6-2.

Thoke contributed a two-RBI single later in theinning, and LaSovage and Franzese followed withconsecutive RBI doubles. Teller closed out theonslaught with a single into center that platedFranzese.

Oklahoma 3, Harvard 0

The Sooners made sure that there would be nomiraculous finish to Harvard's season with anothershutout victory in the Regional semifinal.Harvard's bats once again could not catch up toOklahoma's pitching, as the Crimson mustered justfour hits against Sooners' junior pitcher SophiaContreraz.

Senior pitcher `Heather Brown (3-7) took theloss for Harvard in her final collegiateappearance, allowing two runs on five hits in fourand one-third innings. Cupp capped off her careerwith two strikeouts, four hits and one run allowedin two and two-thirds innings of relief.

"All of our pitchers pitched well thisweekend," Franzese said. "Oklahoma is definitely astrong team, and they hit the ball well. They didwhat they had to do to win."

Oklahoma scored the only runs it would need inthe top of the fifth. Clark led off the inningswith a single and moved to second on a sacrificebunt by Hargrave. Freshman LaKisha Washingtondrove Clark in with a single to center.

After Washington moved to third, fellowfreshman Mandy Fulton executed a successfulsqueeze play to score Washington and extendOklahoma's lead to 2-0. The Sooners added aninsurance run in the seventh when freshman LisaCarey came around to score on a two-out double byfreshman Ashli Barrett.

Harvard's only scoring threat of the game camein the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Franzesedoubled into right and moved to third on agroundout by LaSovage. But Contreraz put the scareto rest by striking out Abeles.

Notes

Franzese and Teller were both honored for theirstrong showings in the Regionals with spots on theNCAA Region Five All-Region Team.

The weekend's games marked the end of thecareers of six Harvard seniors. Franzese, Cupp,Brown, Read, Mandy Wills and Tara Hartl--whoseoff-season shoulder surgery sidelined her for theentire year--will graduate as the first Harvardsoftball senior class to play in an NCAApostseason.

A couple of Harvard players finished theregular season ranked nationally in severalstatistical categories. Abeles was 20th in thecountry in batting with a .437 average and 16th inRBI with 53 in 53 games. Thoke was ranked 10thnationally in strikeouts per seven innings with anaverage of eight Ks per game.

OKLAHOMA 8, HARVARD 0 (6 INNINGS) at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  000  -  --  0  1  1Oklahoma  000  125  -  8  12  1

2B: OU--Myers, Velasquez, Johnson 2,Clark; Harvard--None.

WP: Jamie (16-4); LP: Thoke(14-10)

HARVARD 11, BOSTON COLLEGE 2 at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  030  8  --  11  16  2B.C.  000  200  0  --  2  3  2

2B: Harvard--LaSovage, Franzese 2,Teller; B.C.--None.

WP: Cupp (17-6); LP: Dietz (16-6)

OKLAHOMA 3, HARVARD 0 at Totman Field,Amherst, Mass.

  R  H  EHarvard  000  000  0  --  0  4  1Oklahoma  000  020  1  --  3  9  0

2B: OU--Barrett, Whitaker;Harvard--Franzese.

WP: Contreraz (10-2); LP: Brown(3-7)CrimsonJoshua J. SchankerCOACH A: Jenny Allard coached herteam to its best season ever, 34-22.

UMass junior pitcher Danielle Henderson pickedup all three victories for the Minutewomen and wasnamed the Region Five Most Outstanding Player forthe second consecutive year. Henderson struck out33 batters in her 21 innings and posted a 0.33ERA.

Oklahoma 8, Harvard 0

Harvard had a difficult time touchingOklahoma's pitching all weekend, and that factbecame apparent early on in the Crimson's openinggame. Oklahoma senior Jennifer Jaime (16-4) threwa complete game one-hitter to earn the shutout andend Harvard's 11-game winning streak, the thirdlongest in the nation.

Jaime's counterpart, Harvard freshman ChelseaThoke, was ineffective against a Sooners lineupthat was strong from spots one through nine. Afterkeeping Oklahoma off the scoreboard for threeinnings, Thoke allowed one run in the fourth, twoin the fifth and five in the sixth. She gave upseven earned runs and six walks on 12 hits whilestriking out five batters in five and two-thirdsinnings.

"You have to be on top of your game all thetime because the bottom of their lineup can hurtyou as much as the top," Thoke said after thegame. "It definitely tired me out having to workso hard on all nine batters."

Juniors Lynette Velasquez and Stephanie Clarkeach had 2-for-3, three-RBI days at the plate forOklahoma. Clark's fourth inning double into leftcenterfield brought junior Deborah Hargrave aroundfor the first run of the game. The Sooners addedtwo more in the fifth on an RBI double by seniorRachel Johnson and a throwing error by Harvardjunior co-captain and Ivy League Player of theYear Tara LaSovage.

Harvard's slim hopes of pulling off the upsetwere dashed in the sixth when Oklahoma explodedfor five runs, all coming with two outs. Velasquezstarted the scoring when she came up with thebases loaded and stroked a base-clearing doubleinto the right centerfield gap to double theSooners' lead to 6-0.

Johnson followed with a walk, and a single byfreshman Jaime White loaded the bases again forClark. The leftfielder plated Velasquez andJohnson with a single into center, making thescore 8-0 and invoking the mercy rule to end thegame.

"The key to hitting well is makingadjustments," said Harvard sophomore shortstopDeborah Abeles. "It was obvious as the game wenton that we weren't making the right adjustments."

Harvard's lone hit of the game came courtesy ofjunior catcher Terri Teller. Teller singled toleft with one out in the top of the fourth.

Harvard 11, Boston College 2

Harvard's lack of offensive production againstOklahoma may have inspired the Crimson thefollowing afternoon. Harvard busted out for 11runs on a season-high 16 hits to demolish itscrosstown rivals.

Harvard was led by Franzese's 4-for-4 day,including two singles and two doubles, andTeller's 3-for-5, three-RBI performance.

Senior pitcher Tasha Cupp (17-5) picked up thefinal win of her fine collegiate career. The IvyLeague Pitcher of the Year gave up just three hitsand two unearned runs while striking out three infive innings of work. Thoke pitched the sixth andseventh to pick up her fourth save of the season.

"We didn't hit very well on Friday, and thatmade us hungry against B.C," Franzese said. "I waspleased. All of our bats came alive against B.C.,and I was excited about that."

Boston College jumped out to a 2-0 lead in thebottom of the fourth when sophomore Chris Vicarisent a two-out, two-RBI single into center. TheEagles' lead, however, would be short-lived as theCrimson scored three times in the top of thefifth.

Harvard's first run came across the plate whenFranzese scorched a one-out double into center toscore sophomore Crystal Springer from second.Sophomore Deborah Abeles followed with a walk, andFranzese came in on a double by Teller. Abelesscored the eventual game-winner when seniorHillary Read reached on a throwing error by B.C.pitcher Lauren Fischetti.

But Harvard was not done. The Crimson chasedFischetti in the seventh with an eight-run scoringbarrage. Following a single and another B.C. errorto open the frame, Harvard scored three runs onfour consecutive singles to increase its advantageto 6-2.

Thoke contributed a two-RBI single later in theinning, and LaSovage and Franzese followed withconsecutive RBI doubles. Teller closed out theonslaught with a single into center that platedFranzese.

Oklahoma 3, Harvard 0

The Sooners made sure that there would be nomiraculous finish to Harvard's season with anothershutout victory in the Regional semifinal.Harvard's bats once again could not catch up toOklahoma's pitching, as the Crimson mustered justfour hits against Sooners' junior pitcher SophiaContreraz.

Senior pitcher `Heather Brown (3-7) took theloss for Harvard in her final collegiateappearance, allowing two runs on five hits in fourand one-third innings. Cupp capped off her careerwith two strikeouts, four hits and one run allowedin two and two-thirds innings of relief.

"All of our pitchers pitched well thisweekend," Franzese said. "Oklahoma is definitely astrong team, and they hit the ball well. They didwhat they had to do to win."

Oklahoma scored the only runs it would need inthe top of the fifth. Clark led off the inningswith a single and moved to second on a sacrificebunt by Hargrave. Freshman LaKisha Washingtondrove Clark in with a single to center.

After Washington moved to third, fellowfreshman Mandy Fulton executed a successfulsqueeze play to score Washington and extendOklahoma's lead to 2-0. The Sooners added aninsurance run in the seventh when freshman LisaCarey came around to score on a two-out double byfreshman Ashli Barrett.

Harvard's only scoring threat of the game camein the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Franzesedoubled into right and moved to third on agroundout by LaSovage. But Contreraz put the scareto rest by striking out Abeles.

Notes

Franzese and Teller were both honored for theirstrong showings in the Regionals with spots on theNCAA Region Five All-Region Team.

The weekend's games marked the end of thecareers of six Harvard seniors. Franzese, Cupp,Brown, Read, Mandy Wills and Tara Hartl--whoseoff-season shoulder surgery sidelined her for theentire year--will graduate as the first Harvardsoftball senior class to play in an NCAApostseason.

A couple of Harvard players finished theregular season ranked nationally in severalstatistical categories. Abeles was 20th in thecountry in batting with a .437 average and 16th inRBI with 53 in 53 games. Thoke was ranked 10thnationally in strikeouts per seven innings with anaverage of eight Ks per game.

OKLAHOMA 8, HARVARD 0 (6 INNINGS) at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

R  H  EHarvard  000  000  -  --  0  1  1Oklahoma  000  125  -  8  12  1

2B: OU--Myers, Velasquez, Johnson 2,Clark; Harvard--None.

WP: Jamie (16-4); LP: Thoke(14-10)

HARVARD 11, BOSTON COLLEGE 2 at TotmanField, Amherst, Mass.

R  H  EHarvard  000  030  8  --  11  16  2B.C.  000  200  0  --  2  3  2

2B: Harvard--LaSovage, Franzese 2,Teller; B.C.--None.

WP: Cupp (17-6); LP: Dietz (16-6)

OKLAHOMA 3, HARVARD 0 at Totman Field,Amherst, Mass.

R  H  EHarvard  000  000  0  --  0  4  1Oklahoma  000  020  1  --  3  9  0

2B: OU--Barrett, Whitaker;Harvard--Franzese.

WP: Contreraz (10-2); LP: Brown(3-7)CrimsonJoshua J. SchankerCOACH A: Jenny Allard coached herteam to its best season ever, 34-22.