Softball Takes Second Place at Buzz

When the Harvard softball team headed to Georgia for the 25-team Buzz Classic over spring break, nobody expected the Crimson to be competing for the title. Harvard was outscored 22-7 in four losses at the tournament last season.

But after five straight victories in the last two days of competition--beginning with a win over No. 23 Wisconsin--Harvard earned second place in the 25-team field that included five NCAA qualifiers from last season and marquee teams from the Pac 10, Big 10 and the ACC.

"It was amazing--our hitting was unbelievable," said sophomore tri-captain Grace Bloodwell. "We had a lot of luck, and all our plays worked. And it seemed like whenever we needed it, the meat of the order would come up to hit, but anyone at that time was the meat of the order."

Harvard hit nine home runs during the tournament. Junior outfielder Sarah Koppel sent four out of the park and sophomore outfielder/pitcher Tiffany Whitton hit three.

"We dominated those pitchers," Bloodwell said. "If we can continue to do that, we can take anyone in the Ivies."

Senior Chelsea Thoke earned three complete-game wins over the weekend. The pitching depth provided by Thoke, Whitton, and freshman Kara Brotemarkle made the second-place finish possible.

After the unprecedented run in the Buzz Classic, the Crimson could not avoid a letdown. Harvard (7-13) went 1-5 in three doubleheaders through the rest of spring break.

"We should have swept all the teams we played after the tournament," Bloodwell said. "It's hard to avoid playing down to the level of whoever your playing."

Before the week was over, Thoke surpassed the Crimson career strikeout record previously held by Tasha Cupp '98. She also earned Ivy Pitcher of the Week honors for her performance over the course of the Buzz Classic.

The Buzz Classic

The Buzz Classic is a logistical marvel--25 teams playing 61 games in just three days. After five round-robin pools of five teams complete play, the top 12 teams play for the championship in a single-elimination bracket.

On Friday, Mar. 23, the Crimson stood 0-2 in the round-robin portion of the tournament after a 5-3 loss to Mercer and a 7-0 defeat at the hands of No. 3 California. Whitton did everything for the Crimson against Mercer, hitting two home runs and pitching a complete game, but she couldn't win the game all by herself.

Harvard needed two wins to advance to single-elimination play, and the situation looked bleak with No. 23 Wisconsin and Southeast Missouri State looming on the horizon. But the Crimson won both games in come-from behind, extra-inning fashion.

Harvard trailed 3-1 against Wisconsin, but Thoke shut the Badgers down the rest of the way. Koppel's game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth and tri-captain Mairead McKendry's 3-for-4, two RBI performance paced the comeback in the 4-3, eight-inning win.

In the following game against SMS, Koppel put Harvard up early with a two-run blast. SMS tied the game then took the lead in the eighth, but Harvard came back, scoring on sacrifices in the eighth and ninth for another 4-3 win.

Harvard earned second place in its pool and the 10th seed of the championship tournament, drawing seventh-seed Connecticut in the first round the same evening.

Thoke, after winning two games that afternoon, gave way to freshman Kara Brotemarkle--who pitched a complete-game shutout. Home runs by Whitton and Koppel provided all the offense Harvard would need in the 3-0 win.

The next morning Harvard defeated second-seeded Stetson 6-3 on the strength of another complete game, nine-strikeout outing from Thoke. The Crimson went up 4-0 in the third on RBI singles from Whitton and Koppel and never looked back.

Immediately following the win over Stetson, Harvard defeated Illinois, 3-2, in the semifinals. Whitton proved durable enough to hold the Illini to two runs in five innings, while Brotemarkle shut them down in relief.

All the Crimson offense came from solo homeruns--a leadoff shot from freshman shortstop Sara Williamson, a game-tying blast from Sarah Koppel in the sixth, and the game-winner from another freshman, first-baseman Breeanne Cooley, in the seventh.

Harvard faced a familiar foe in the Buzz Classic championship game--No. 3 California. It was their third meeting already this season.

"They're a good team," Koppel said. "Whenever we play them, we just go in there and try to do our best. We've played strong with them."

California brought out its ace, Jocelyn Forest, who boasts a 0.27 ERA on the season. Harvard kept the score tied for two innings and close for four, but the Golden Bears put the game away with five runs in the fifth for the 8-0 mercy-rule ending.

Harvard has been outscored 23-0 in its three meetings with California this year, but the team has managed to stay close through a few innings in each contest.

The Aftermath

In the week following the Buzz Classic, Harvard was swept by Georgia Tech by scores of 4-3 and 2-1.

"We were hitting the ball hard," Koppel said. "But we weren't getting the ball through."

Harvard split a doubleheader with Mercer. The Crimson fell 2-1 in the first game, but Koppel came through again with a clutch home run, this time a three-run shot in the seventh to propel Harvard to a 4-3 win in the second game.

The Crimson's spring break came to a sour conclusion as Canisius swept the team by scores of 4-1 and 3-1.

"We didn't play poorly except at Canisius," Bloodwell said. "We made some errors--certain things could have been done more smoothly."

Harvard opens its Ivy schedule this weekend against Penn and Princeton. The Tigers went 0-4 at the Buzz Classic, and had the privilege of watching Harvard make its way to the championship game.

"[Princeton] is going to be scared," Bloodwell said. "If we can go strong with California to the third or fourth inning, they should be shaking."