Softball Sweeps Columbia To Close Out Home Slate

When the afternoon was over and two wins over Columbia secured, the Harvard softball team huddled together in the outfield. Suddenly the group broke apart and the team’s seniors, having completed their final home games as members of the Crimson, were being doused with water balloons by their jubilant teammates.

The more meaningful spraying, however, took place during the doubleheader against the Lions (23-25, 6-6 Ivy), when Harvard (17-19, 8-4) dished out 18 total runs and 26 hits in its sweep.

“It was great for the team to step up,” Crimson coach Jenny Allard said, “and let the seniors end on that note on their field.”

HARVARD 12, COLUMBIA 4

In an offensive explosion unparalleled this season, the Crimson overcame a slow start with a seven-run third inning and went on to win Game 2 decisively in five innings.

Facing a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the third, Harvard promptly banged out eight of its season-high 16 hits to seize the lead.

“It was our last home game so we really wanted to come out strong,” senior Beth Sabin said. “It was just a lot of people coming together and not letting our season die.”

With one out, consecutive singles by shortstop Lauren Brown and seniors Lauren Stefanchik and Lauren Bettinelli loaded the bases. Flat-out hustle evened the score, as the next two batters hit ground balls in the infield, but the runners on third beat the throws home.

“We were trying to put a lot of pressure on them defensively to make plays,” Allard said. “But I kept sending the runners and they made it home so it worked.”

Senior Cecily Gordon then stroked a two-run single to right field and sophomore Susie Winkeller followed with a run-scoring double. After an RBI groundout by senior Annie Dell’Aria, junior Rachel Murray, Brown, and Stefanchik strung together three more base hits but Murray was gunned down at the plate.

Columbia and the Crimson traded a pair of runs in the fourth inning, before Harvard sealed the win—via the mercy rule—in the fifth.

“We were just really aggressive,” Stefanchik said. “They only had two pitchers so they had nothing to do. In the second game, we were up by five runs and we said if we can get to eight that would be awesome.”

Pinch-hitter Pilar Adams led off the frame with a sharp double to right field. Adams came around to score when the right fielder mishandled Brown’s lazy fly into the corner. Stefanchik followed with a single to center—bringing her to a perfect 4-for-4 in the game and 6-for-7 on the day—before another error brought Brown home to make it 11-4.

Freshman Danielle Kerper picked up her fourth RBI of the game and iced the win with a double down the right-field line that plated Stefanchik. Kerper also drove in the two Crimson runs in the fourth with a double.

“We just hit the crap out of the ball today,” Stefanchik said.

Bettinelli—who also went 2-for-3 with two runs scored—got the start in the circle, the last of her collegiate career. She went three innings and picked up the win, her first of the year. Junior Michele McAteer relieved for the final two frames, allowing only one earned run.

The Harvard barrage came at the expense of Columbia hurler Megan Ivey, who surrendered all 16 hits and 12 hits in only 4 1/3 innings.

HARVARD 6, COLUMBIA 2

A strong outing from starter Shelly Madick and a balanced offensive attack carried Harvard to an easy 6-2 win in the opener.

The top of the lineup got on base, the middle of the order provided the pop, and No. 9 hitter Lauren Brown went deep for the Crimson, which never trailed.

“It’s nice to come out after dropping the two to Cornell and really beating up on a team a bit,” Bettinelli said. “And everyone—one through nine—was hitting the ball.”

After retiring the side in order in the first, Columbia starter Jackie Adelfio could not keep Harvard off the board in any of the ensuing five innings, as it tallied a pair in the fourth and single runs on the four other occasions.

“I’ve seen the first pitcher,” Stefanchik said. “I played against her in high school all the time. I just felt good at the plate today.”

An RBI bloop single by sophomore Susie Winkeller in the second and an unearned run generated by Stefanchik in the third staked the Crimson to a 2-0 lead, before it posted a crooked number in the fourth.

Kerper led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sharp single by Gordon. Winkeller, after two failed bunt attempts, drove the two-strike pitch off the wall in right field for her second hit and RBI of the day.

“It’s great to see that someone can step up like that,” Bettinelli said of Winkeller. “As soon as she got in the lineup, she’s been hitting it hard. It’s been really impressive.”

Gordon moved to third on the play and scored on a Murray sacrifice fly.

A run-scoring single by Kerper and Brown’s longball in the sixth rounded out the scoring for Harvard, which reached double digits in hits for just the fifth time all year.

Madick twirled six shutout innings to keep the Lions at bay, allowing four hits and exiting with a comfortable 6-0 edge. Sophomore Becky Voaklander surrendered three straight hits to begin the seventh before settling down and setting down three Lions to close out the game.

“It’s just trying to stay sharp, to end on a good note,” Bettinelli said. “You still want all of your pitches moving, you still want to come out strong. And our pitching has been effective all season I think.”

The contest was punctuated by a pair of controversial plays in the fifth inning, one benefiting Harvard and one short-changing it.

In the top half, a batter’s interference call on an attempted steal stifled a potential Lions rally as they trailed 4-0. As catcher Erin Halpenny came across the plate to throw, she was obstructed by the hitter, forcing her to double-pump and her throw to arrive late at second. The baserunner was returned to first base and, after lengthy deliberations that visibly perturbed Columbia coach Kayla Noonan, the batter was called out.

Then, with one out in the bottom of the inning, Sabin launched a deep drive to center that glanced off the centerfielder’s glove and over the wall. The play was judged a ground-rule double and Sabin denied her rightful fourth home run of the year.

“My mistake was not challenging them [on Sabin’s double],” Allard said. “I should have known. They in effect got one right and missed one.”

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