Softball Wins One, Rain Takes Three

Right now, the horrific weather is the only opponent keeping the Harvard women's softball team from clinching the Ivy title.

On the strength of junior Mairead McKendry and sophomore Sarah Koppel's back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Crimson posted a 10-5 victory over Penn on Friday afternoon.

But the second game of the doubleheader was postponed, as well as Saturday's scheduled doubleheader against Princeton. Attempts to make up the second Penn game on Saturday and Sunday afternoon also failed.

Had the weather cooperated, the Crimson (12-17, 5-0 Ivy) would be finishing out its league schedule with this Thursday's doubleheader against Dartmouth. But five of the 10 scheduled Ivy games have been postponed, which means that Harvard still has a long way to go.

"It's been pretty frustrating," McKendry said. "We should have a lot more games in. The rain pushes everything to the end of the season. But I guess now this gives us a chance to focus more on single games."

The second Penn game will now be played Saturday at noon at Yale, along with a make-up of the April 15 rainout against Yale at 2 p.m. The Princeton doubleheader will be made up at home on Sunday.

The Quakers had proven themselves to be a dangerous team coming into this game, having beaten perennial Ivy power Princeton and defending champion Cornell in the previous weeks.

With the Quakers pounding junior pitcher Chelsea Thoke for four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead, and the rain threatening to end the game at any moment, Penn appeared to have the upset magic for the third week in a row.

But the Crimson bats would have none of that. Thoke and senior Crystal Springer started off a Crimson rally in the bottom half of the fourth with sharp, back-to-back singles. Two batters later, freshman leadoff hitter Tiffany Whitton came up with the bases loaded and smacked the ball off the upper center field wall in the deepest part of the park.

While Springer easily scored from third, freshman Monica Montijo was gunned down at the plate, and the Crimson left the inning with only a single run.

Despite the wasted opportunity, Harvard did not let down one bit. Sophomore shortstop Cherry Fu led off the bottom of the fifth with a strong single through short. After McKendry reached on a force, Koppel sent her to third with a slow roller up the middle.

The next hitter, pitcher Suzanne Guy, sent the ball weakly down the first base line, but Penn misplayed it, sending the ball into right field. McKendry came in with the tying run.

Once senior Jessie Amberg led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off the right-center wall, and Whitton reached after running out a ground ball to short, there was little doubt that Harvard would be mounting a game-winning rally.

Fu finally gave the Crimson a 6-5 lead with a single down the first base line. Then came McKendry and Koppel's heroics.

McKendry smacked the ball high in the air over the left fielder wall, her seventh homer of the season, putting Harvard up 9-5. Koppel followed with a shot in about the same direction as McKendry's, though not quite as far. That finally ended a long day for Penn pitcher Becky Ranta.

Guy shut down the Quakers in relief of Thoke. She pitched three innings, stuck out five, and walked two while earning the win. Penn mounted a slight scoring threat in the top of the seventh, when the game was out of reach, loading the bases with two outs. But Guy stuck out Penn first baseman Kari Dennis to end the game.

Thoke pitched a solid 3.2 innings to start the game. At one point she pitched out of a second-and-third, one-out jam with a ground ball and a strikeout. But getting the last out of the fourth inning was a nightmare.

"[The weather] was frustrating," McKendry said. "There was a combination of factors hindering her delivery of the ball. Her hand was all taped up."

With cold rain numbing hands around the field, Thoke lost her of control. She walked two in a row, then an unlucky bounce on a bunt loaded the bases.

After Clarisa Apostol reached on a slow grounder to cut the Harvard lead to 3-2, Crista Farrell cleared the bases with a shot deep to right field that barely stayed in the park. The Crimson finally ended the inning when Farrell was thrown out while running to second.

The Crimson got its first three runs in the top of the first. After Ranta walked Whitton and Fu to put runners at first and second with one out, the game was halted 15 minutes due to rain.

As soon as the "play ball" signal was given, McKendry popped a 2-0 Ranta pitch to the center field for the second out.

Koppel came up next. She sent the third pitch from Ranta ricocheting down the first base line, fair by just a few inches. The lucky bounce drove in two runs and earned Koppel a triple. A single by Thoke drove in Koppel to put the Crimson up 3-0. Those early runs were crucial for the eventual comeback.

"We were a bit nervous [when we were trailing], but luckily our bats came to life in the fifth and sixth," McKendry said.

Going into Thursday's doubleheader against Dartmouth, Harvard is the only Ivy team with fewer than two losses. While the dark clouds may be keeping this team off the field, the Crimson title chances look as bright as ever.