Softball LosesTwo to UMass

If the Harvard softball team was hoping to solve its offensive problems, it certainly did not find the necessary clues in Amherst.

Harvard (12-14, 4-0 Ivy) could only muster seven hits and one run as it dropped a doubleheader to No. 21 UMass (28-8, 7-1 Atlantic 10) yesterday at Totman Field. UMass senior Danielle Henderson (18-2) threw seven shutout innings to lead the Minutewomen to a 2-0 victory in the first game, while sophomore Carrie Jeffries (9-3) earned a 3-1 win in the nightcap.

Henderson, the nation's leader in strikeouts per seven innings, struck out 13 and surrendered just two hits in the opener of the twin bill sweep. She now has a streak of 61scoreless innings.

"We knew going in that [Henderson] was very strong," said Harvard co-captain Deborah Abeles. "She's a good pitcher, and to beat [UMass} with her on the mound, we needed to play really well and we didn't do that."

Senior Mandy Galas had the big stick for UMass, going 4-for-6 on the afternoon and stroking her team-leading seventh triple of the season. Galas also drove in three of the Minutewomen's five runs.

Harvard's pitchers did an excellent job keeping the Crimson in both games. Freshman Julie Schwab (1-1) traded scoreless innings with Henderson in the first game until UMass broke out for its only two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Sophomore Kiley Scofield lined a single into center field, and senior Octavia Brown bunted Scofield to second. Galas then drove Scofield in for the first run and later stole second base. Freshman Teri Rooney followed with a single to right field that drove in Galas for the final 2-0 tally.

In the second game, Harvard sophomore ace Chelsea Thoke (7-7) was brilliant, holding the Minutewomen hitless until the bottom of the fifth inning when UMass touched her for two runs.

With two outs, Scofield should have been the third out of the inning, but she reached on an error and stole second base. UMass senior Katie Kenderski then slapped a single--the Minutewomen's first hit of the game--over Abeles' head into left-centerfield. Kenderski stole second and scored on a single to centerfield by Galas.

"[Thoke] did really well," Abeles said. "She pitched one of her best games and looked very strong."

As impressive as Thoke was, her teammates did not give her much run support. Harvard did not get on the scoreboard until the final inning as Jeffries threw six shutout innings for UMass before allowing one run in the top of the seventh.

"It's disappointing as a pitcher when you're throwing well and you don't get the victory," Abeles said of Thoke's performance. "She was handling their hitters all day, and we didn't help her out."

The Crimson did stroke five hits, including doubles by sophomore Mairead McKendry and junior Ghia Godfree. But Harvard could not cross the plate until the seventh, and even then it fell shy of tying the score.

"We should be able to hit their second pitcher better," Abeles said. "Once a few people start hitting, it will catch on, but that hasn't happened. Once it's sparked, everything will come together."

UMass scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Cherra Wheeler led off with a triple to the rightfield wall, and senior Becky George drove Wheeler in with an RBI ground out.

Jeffries went the distance for the Minutewomen, striking out seven.

Harvard will next be in action this weekend with four more Ivy League contests. The Crimson will travel to Penn for two games with the Quakers tomorrow afternoon before a doubleheader at Princeton on Sunday.