Crimson Wins On Senior Day

What a difference a week makes. From the perspective of the Harvard softball team, however, a more appropriate saying woudd be; the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In the second clash in the space of a week between Ivy League North champion Crimson (24-20, 14-6 Ivy) and America-East leader Boston University (29-17), the margin of victory was once again just one run. Unlike their 1-0 last week, yesterday’s matchup featured more offense as the teams played out a 5-4 game in favor of the home side.

“I thought it was a great competitive game,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “It was back and forth, both teams really hit the ball well, and it was just a very competitive ball game.”

In a finely-balanced contest, the Crimson’s victory was very much a team endeavor. Spearheaded by senior captain Shelly Madick, four Harvard pitchers recorded a combined 10 strikeouts.

On the offensive side freshman Ellen Macadam was driven home three times by sophomore Lauren Murphy, junior Hayley Bock smashed a home run, and a run from first base by senior Danielle Kerper completed the scoring.

“I thought it was a really good game. I know we seniors really wanted to win our last game at home, so that meant a lot to us,” Madick said. “We did a really good job coming out at every inning, scoring, keeping pressure on them, manufacturing our runs. All our runs today were manufactured except that one home run shot. I was just really proud of our offense today.”

Despite a stellar performance from the Crimson, it was the Terriers that capitalized early. Two quick outs in the first failed to deter the feisty BU team, as a runner reached on a walk and then a ferocious drive over the fence in right center gave them a two run advantage.

Harvard’s response was swift. In the bottom of the first inning Macadam recorded a one-out triple to right center, setting the scene for Murphy to hit a sacrifice fly to center that scoring her teammate. That was followed by Bock’s fifth home run of the season in the second inning, connecting sweetly with the ball to clear the centerfield wall.

“They’re a respected competitor, and we just went out hard against them,” Allard said. “We just tried to be more aggressive offensively, and that was the key today.”

The pendulum continued to swing as the game progressed. In the third inning, Macadam scored on Murphy’s line-drive single to center to put the Crimson in the lead for the first time in the game, before BU capitalized on a Harvard error in the forth inning.

The Crimson regained the lead in the forth inning when senior Danielle Kerper snuke home after a Bowers play to right center—although once again the lead was short-lived. In the fifth inning, The Terriers refused to be put down.

BU junior Shaybe Lotito knocked a drive over the center field wall for a home run that tied the game at 4-4.

Harvard took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. In a recurring theme of the day, Macadam scored when Murphy cracked an infield groundout.

“We hit the ball really hard, and we came out and had real quality at bats, I thought we were really focused at the plate,” Allard said. “Defensively, we could have made a few more plays, catch the ball a few more time, but all in all, we were sharp, and we made the plays we needed to make, and our pitching kept us in.”

The pitching proved decisive for the Crimson as the game reached its conclusion. After a scoreless sixth inning, Madick was faced with a game-clinching final pitch in the seventh—the game poised at 5-4, two BU runners on base, and the count at two strikes and three balls.

Fortunately for Harvard, Madick kept her composure, throwing a perfect strike that ended the threat and sealed the team’s third consecutive win.

And in her final home game of the slated season, the senior captain paid tribute to the Crimson’s class of 2008.

“We’ve been a really tight group,” Madick said. “We came in, we were all on our recruiting trip together, we’ve been here since the beginning, and it was really nice to finish together at the end of it all. I’m going to miss the girls a lot – we’ve been through a lot together, and it’s been nice to play on the field with them.”

With its Ivy League Championship decider against Princeton looming this weekend, Harvard and its seniors will hope for the same type of success against the Tigers that it has enjoyed against the Terriers.