Harvard Ready to Pull Away In North

The Harvard softball team looks to solidify its dominance in the Ivy League North Division this weekend, which it is leading with four conference wins. The Crimson(15-11, 4-4 Ivy) will travel to New Haven today to take on Yale (17-9, 2-6 Ivy) in the first of its doubleheader matches, the two teams will match up again on Saturday for another two-game stand.

The Bulldogs have won their last three games but have only grabbed two Ivy League wins this year, one each against Penn and Columbia. Penn currently holds the second-place spot overall in the Ivy League, but two of its only three conference losses came against Harvard.

“Every conference game is a tough matchup,” Crimson coach Jenny Allard said. “We’re approaching every team the same way. We’re trying to play our game and bring our energy and our focus to every one.”

Harvard is on a mini-streak coming off a doubleheader sweep of Holy Cross on Tuesday, in which it outscored the Crusaders 15-0 in the two games. With both Ivy teams on winning streaks, it only makes the matchup between the two classic rivals more heated.

Junior Shelly Madick only allowed two hits in her shutout performance on Tuesday, and the Crimson showed it has offensive and defensive versatility when it scored a whopping 12 runs in the second game, which was also a shutout—freshman Dana Roberts only allowed one hit. Both pitchers should see some innings against Yale this weekend.

“We want to be very aggressive and explosive offensively, but also really efficient on the mound,” said Allard.

If Harvard wins two of the four games against the Bulldogs this weekend, it will have matched the number of Ivy League wins it garnered last year, when the Crimson went 6-8 and finished fifth overall in the final standings.

“I think everyone’s really happy with the success that we’ve had,” junior pitcher Amanda Watkins said. “Our pitching and our defense are coming together at the right time, so that makes it really exciting for us to be starting our division play this weekend.”

There are seven freshmen on the varsity roster, a number of them starters. The difference between finishing fifth last year and starting division play first overall may very well have been this injection of youthful talent. Roberts proved that she can throw like a veteran in her shutout game Tuesday—but she’s not the only freshman making an impact. Melissa Schellberg starts at third base for the Crimson, Stephanie Krysiak in center field, and Jessica Pledger starts about half the games at catcher, while Lauren Murphy is the regular designated player. Margaux Black and Jennifer Francis make their mark on the mound and in the batter’s box, respectively.

“I can say honestly that every single one of the freshman has had a positive impact on the team this year,” Watkins said. “The team chemistry has really been affected positively by their presence.”

The games against Yale were originally scheduled to start on Saturday and continue on Sunday, but instead the first double-header will be played today at 3:15 and 5:15, while the second set of two games is tomorrow. All games are at Dewitt Family Field in New Haven.