Softball Keeps Up With Tigers

After an encouraging opening to the Ivy League season at home, the Harvard softball team really earned its stripes on the road this weekend, turning in its second straight 3-1 showing. Earning a tough split with a powerful Princeton team (28-13, 8-2 Ivy) and going on to sweep Penn (13-20, 3-7) yesterday, the Crimson (13-15, 6-2) maintained its position near the top of the Ivy standings and remained tied with the Tigers in the all-important loss column.

Harvard relied on its pitching to carry it through the pair of double-headers—most notably in the mind-boggling opening game versus Princeton on Saturday—and the bats came alive against the Quakers, bringing a squad plagued by uncertainties and injuries to within two weeks of a possible Ancient Eight title.

HARVARD 7, PENN 4

Sophomore Susie Winkeller—only a recent addition to the starting lineup—was the offensive hero in the nightcap, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and propelling the Crimson to an easy 7-4 win at Warren Field in Philadelphia.

Harvard loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning on a pair of singles by co-captain Lauren Bettinelli and freshman Danielle Kerper, plus a hit-by-pitch courtesy of Penn starter Lindsey Permar. Winkeller then roped a double to left field, clearing the bases and giving Harvard a quick 3-0 lead.

The Crimson tacked on three more runs in the third. Facing reliever Olivia Mauro, Harvard commenced the frame with three straight hits—a double from senior Beth Sabin, a single from catcher Annie Dell’Aria, and another RBI double by Winkeller.

Senior Cecily Gordon piled on for the Crimson with a two-run, two-bagger to center off new Quakers hurler Ann Ferracane.

With the game comfortably in hand, Penn began to scratch back against freshman Amanda Watkins in the bottom half. The Quakers picked up a single tally in the third and the fourth, and a pair in the sixth that chased Watkins from the circle.

Junior Michele McAteer earned the save in relief of Watkins, who went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs.

HARVARD 5, PENN 1

Freshman Shelly Madick dazzled on the hill yet again in the opener yesterday, twirling a complete-game three-hitter for her second win of the weekend.

The performance advanced her record to 7-3 on the year and lowered her ERA to an even 2.00.

Madick was forced to pitch her way out of trouble in the opening frame, as she walked the bases loaded with one out. Madick responded with two strikeouts to end the threat, and continued to keep the Quakers at bay for the better part of her seven stellar innings.

Madick got all the cushion she needed in the top of the fourth, when shortstop Lauren Brown ended a two-out rally with a three-run homer to centerfield that pushed the Crimson lead to 4-0.

Although Penn got on the board with a run on two of its three hits in the bottom half, Madick slammed the door from there, retiring 10 of 11 batters to close out the game.

Harvard had built a 1-0 lead in the third on an unearned run instigated by Brown and set the decisive margin with an insurance run in the fifth on an RBI single from senior Beth Sabin.

PRINCETON 9, HARVARD 0

Following the high of its dramatic game one victory, Harvard suffered a letdown against the Tigers in game two. Princeton mercy-ruled the Crimson in five innings, regaining its hitting stroke after lying dormant in the opener.

While freshman Kristen Schaus (10-6) baffled the Harvard hitters, permitting only four hits and striking out seven in her five innings of work, the Tigers followed the curious and effective pattern of scoring a quantity of runs equal to the number of the inning.

The Crimson threw a string of pitchers at Princeton, each one futile against the energized Tigers. McAteer got the start, giving up three earned runs in 1 2/3, Watkins allowed two more runs pitching to five batters, and sophomore Becky Voaklander surrendered four runs over the final two frames.

Senior Lauren Stefanchik went 2-for-3 for Harvard in the loss, and juniors Erin Halpenny and Rachel Murray also picked up hits.

HARVARD 1, PRINCETON 0 (10)

In a game that may well turn out to be a microcosm of the Crimson’s season, the first game of the Saturday double-header with Princeton featured inspired play and went right down to the wire.

The ace hurlers from the Ivy League’s first and second-place teams went head-to-head for nine scoreless innings, until senior Beth Sabin cracked a solo home run in the top of the 10th that held up for the winning margin.

Sabin was 3-for-4 in the game, providing the Crimson’s lone three hits, and launched a drive over the wall for its lone run.

While Sabin’s burst of offense proved crucial, the real story was the pair of pitchers, dueling throughout regulation and into extra innings, trading strikeouts and scarcely allowing hits.

Madick carried a no-hitter into the tenth, until she allowed back-to-back singles with one out. Protecting the slimmest of leads, Harvard coach Jenny Allard lifted Madick and went to the bullpen for the closer.

Voaklander then eliminated the lead runner at third base on a ground ball back to the box, before allowing a single up the middle. But junior co-captain Kerry Flaherty cut down the runner trying to score at the plate and Madick’s 15-strikeout win was preserved.

Princeton junior Erin Snyder—who went on to hurl a perfect game against Dartmouth yesterday—was equally stingy, surrendering only Sabin’s trio of knocks and striking out an Ivy League season-high 21 batters.

In many ways, the match-up featured the Ancient Eight’s top hurler of the present—Snyder stands at 13-3 and leads the conference with a 0.72 ERA—and its prospective star pitcher of the future in Madick, who has now picked up the win in four of Crimson’s six Ivy victories.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.