Harvard Hovers at .500 With Splits

It was a weekend of offensive ups and downs for Harvard softball. The team registered a season high in hits against a Villanova team that shut out the Crimson in the very next game, with similar results against Iona.

“There are definitely some factors we need to improve on,” sophomore hurler Shelly Madick said, “like keeping our energy for six hours, eight hours, during these doubleheaders.”

Harvard will look for more steady production over spring break, as it travels to Utah for tournaments and games beginning with March 24 tangles with Utah State and Portland State.

HARVARD 9, IONA 4

The Crimson (6-7) ended its weekend with a bang, downing the Gaels (4-6) in yesterday’s second game in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Freshman pitcher Bailey Vertovez picked up her second win of the weekend with a complete-game effort, striking out ten while walking three.

“Bailey’s worked really hard,” Watkins said. “Her hard work has translated into some good performances.”

Vertovez got plenty of support from the Harvard lineup, led by senior Pilar Adams, who went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, and junior Susie Winkeller, who was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

The team amassed ten hits off Iona pitching, its second double-digit hit game of the weekend.

IONA 9, HARVARD 1

The Gaels (4-5) jumped on the Crimson (5-7) for six runs in the bottom of the second inning on their way to a five-inning victory in yesterday’s first game.

Iona added three more in the bottom of the fifth to have the game called on the mercy rule.

Senior Erin Halpenny and senior Lauren Brown each went 2-for-2 at the plate for Harvard, with Halpenny scoring the Crimson’s lone run.

Sophomore starting pitcher Amanda Watkins took the loss for Harvard, giving up three runs in 1.1 innings of work.

VILLANOVA 5, HARVARD 0

The bats went cold for the Crimson (5-6) in Saturday’s second game, as the team was shut out by the Wildcats (4-13) in Villanova, PA.

Three Villanova pitchers combined to surrender just five hits, all to different Harvard players. Winkeller recorded a double for the Crimson.

The Wildcats again struck early, scoring three runs in the first and two more in the third.

Watkins came on in relief in the fourth, pitching three shutout innings, while Madick took the loss for Harvard.

HARVARD 11, VILLANOVA 10

The long ball carried the Crimson (5-5) back from a 6-0 second inning deficit as Harvard prevailed over the Wildcats (3-13) in Saturday’s first game.

After Villanova put six on the board in the second, Crimson sophomore first baseman Danielle Kerper went deep with a solo shot in the third to start the rally.

Adams added a two-run blast in the fourth, while freshman Jade Reichling, senior Rachael Murray, and junior Lauren Brown all sent one deep over the course of the game.

The power show and the comeback provided confidence for Harvard pitchers, players said.

“It gives you a real sense of relief knowing that you don’t have to be perfect,” Watkins said.

With the score knotted at 8-8 in the top of the seventh, Murray’s two-out, two-RBI single drove home the decisive runs, closing out a three-run inning. Harvard’s 14 hits were the most of the season to date.

Vertovez picked up her second win of the season, pitching the last five innings of the contest in relief.

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu.