Doubleheader Sweep of Drexel Gives Softball 5-0 Start to Season

The Harvard softball team marched into Philadelphia Sunday and took two games from Drexel, winning 10-0 and 6-5.

Junior tri-captain Tiffany Whitton—batting .533 for the season—paced the Crimson with a five-hit, four-run performance over the two games. Freshman Lauren Stefanchik added two hits and three stolen bases.

After routing Drexel (2-13) in the opener, Harvard (5-0) faced a much stiffer challenge in the second game.

The Crimson jumped out to an early lead as Tiffany Whitton topped off her day with a solo home run in the first inning. Harvard soon added to its lead, scoring once in each of the next two innings before giving up its first two runs of the day in the bottom of the third. The Crimson would score one more run in the fourth inning.

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Dragons rallied to gain their first lead of the day, picking up three runs on a pair of doubles and a Crimson error.

It was the first time Harvard had trailed this season, and it would be the only time the Crimson would trail all game.

Sophomore Breanne Cooley opened the top of the sixth with a walk. Fellow sophomore Kim Koral came in to pinch-run for Cooley and promptly stole second and advanced to third on a Dragon error. Harvard then capitalized on a wild pitch by Drexel pitcher Elizabeth Fuller as Koral came in from third with one out to tie the game.

The Crimson held the Dragons scoreless in the bottom half of the sixth. With two outs in the top of the seventh and co-captain Sarah Koppel and freshman Cecily Gordon on second and first, respectively, Cooley singled, scoring Koppel and giving Harvard the lead.

Senior Suzanne Guy pitched the final 2 2-3 innings, holding Drexel scoreless to earn the win.

“We got some hits together and scored the run to win,” Whitton said. “It was a good test for us to see if we could come back and hopefully we will be able to face our others tests just as well.”

Harvard was able to regroup after the Dragons’ comeback and rally for the win, but the team hopes that in the future it will not have to face such problems.

“There were some things that we still need to work on mentally and physically, like keeping ourselves in the game even once we have scored,” sophomore Kara Brotemarkle said. “We should play at the same intensity the whole way through.

Harvard completely dominated the first game of the doubleheader, as Brotemarkle and freshman Lauren Tanner combined for the 10-0 shutout. Brotemarkle pitched four scoreless innings, striking out two and surrendering only one hit.

Brotemarkle has been simply dominant thus far this season, having yet to allow a run in nine innings of action this season. Opponents are batting just .063 against her, striking out nine times without walking once.

“It wasn’t just a dominating pitching thing,” Brotemarkle said. “[The offense] gave great run supprt. They were behind me. It was definitely a team effort.”

“Everyone stepped up when they needed too,” Whitton added. “It was nice for everything to come together.”

Despite being a young squad, with 15 freshmen and sophomores and only five juniors and seniors, the team plays beyond its years. Most of the starters from last year’s Ivy co-championship team are back, and the team also has gained a lot of talent with its highly-touted freshman class.

“I think we are physically ready to play, but what we need to do is play to the best of our ability,” Brotemarkle said. “If we do that, we are going to come out very strong against any team. I’m optimistic. I think we all are.”

The softball team will compete in the Buzz Classic in Georgia this weekend before traveling during spring break to Pennsylvania for doubleheaders against Lehigh, Villanova and Lafayette. Harvard will play its first home game March 30 when it hosts Maine.