Softball Sweeps Bears at Home

The last time Harvard squared off against Brown, the Bears outslugged the Crimson to win two high-scoring shootouts, launching them into a tie for the coveted 2004 Ivy League title.

This time around, however, Harvard (9-9, 2-0 Ivy) was the sharper of the two teams, relying on clutch hitting and superior pitching to propel it to a pair of tight 3-1 victories at Soldiers Field Saturday. Motivated not only by the excitement of its Ivy opener, but also by the opportunity for revenge against Brown (4-9-1, 0-2), the Crimson rolled to its sixth and seventh consecutive victories.

HARVARD 3, BROWN 1

Freshman starter Amanda Watkins rebounded from a rocky start, escaping a tough second inning to close the door on the Bears and earn a complete-game victory in the second game of the twinbill.

Watkins ran into trouble in the second, giving up a leadoff double and a pair of singles as Brown scored the game’s first run, but Watkins was able to induce Bears outfielder Rachel Fleitell to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

“She was just a little off,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “She wasn’t as sharp as she normally was, but then she kept working on it and working on it.”

Having put out the fire in the second with only one run crossing the plate, Watkins settled down and kept the Brown offense at bay for the rest of the afternoon.

“It was a big turnaround,” Watkins said. “The game kind of started off on a weaker note, and then I felt like I got stronger as the game went on, instead of letting myself get down.”

She received all the offensive support she would need in the bottom of the third, as the Crimson erupted for three runs. After a single from sophomore Lauren Brown and a patented Lauren Stefanchik infield hit, senior Beth Sabin entered the game as a pinch hitter and cracked a two-run double on the first pitch she saw.

“It was clutch,” Allard said. “Beth’s hitting great for us, and we specifically have her ready in a pinch-hitting role like that, to come out and swing her bat, and she did exactly what we needed her to do.”

With Sabin providing the firepower, Watkins also received a boost from her defense, which made several flashy catches and turned two double plays to keep the Bears off the bases.

“My defense really picked me up after my offense was incredible,” Watkins said. “My team was the reason why I got through this game.”

HARVARD 3, BROWN 1

Freshman Shelly Madick spent the afternoon on cruise control, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and striking out 13 to open this season’s Ivy League schedule with her third victory of the week for the Crimson.

“She was great,” Allard said. “She was very ready. She set a tone, she was motivated, she’s improved tremendously this year, and she did a great job for us.”

Madick struck out the side in the second and fourth innings on her way to a season-high 13 Ks, extending her team lead in the category. She never flagged as the game wore on, fanning two in the final frame.

While Madick is only a freshman, she was still able to feed off the adrenaline associated with the quest for redemption after Harvard’s two pivotal losses against Brown last year.

“I think there was just an overall energy on the team,” she said. “I think the team has some unfinished business that they wanted to come back this year and take two wins against [Brown], so I think we were all pumped up for it.”

Madick was staked to an early lead, as her offense touched Bears starter Uchenna Omokaro for two runs in the first. Senior Lauren Stefanchik got things started with her speed, reaching on a bunt single and stealing second. She was driven in on an RBI single by sophomore Julia Kidder, who later came around to score on a Brown error. Freshman Danielle Kerper also contributed one of her three doubles on the afternoon.

“They came out ready,” Allard said of her hitters, “and scoring a run immediately set a great tone.”

In addition to forcing the Bears to play catch-up from the start, the early Crimson runs also helped to open up Madick’s pitching, allowing her to be more aggressive with her approach to the Brown hitters.

“It’s always nice to be able to go right at batters, and just know that you have runs behind you, so you know that if you miss a pitch, it’s OK,” she said. “I think it definitely helps with the mentality to be ahead.”