Crimson Loses Twinbill, Ivy Hopes

Amidst shouts of “winds of change” and “sixth-inning magic” from the crowd, the Harvard softball team attempted to stage a late comeback in Game 2 of its doubleheader against Dartmouth at Soldiers Field yesterday.

After sweeping the Big Green in Hanover on Saturday, the Crimson needed to win just one of yesterday’s two games to claim the Ivy League North Division championship.

But while Harvard (27-16, 12-8 Ivy) managed to score two runs, its efforts were simply too little, too late, as the Big Green’s defense held fast to end both the game, 5-2, and the Crimson’s two-year reign atop the North Division. The defeat came after a 4-0 shutout loss to Dartmouth earlier in the afternoon.

“In the second game, we started making a comeback in the later innings,” freshman pitcher Rachel Brown said. “I really thought we were going to pull it out, and we’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t.”

Brown, who started Game 1 and pitched in relief in the second, finished the day with 11 strikeouts. Her season total of 203 strikeouts far surpasses the previous all-time single season strikeout record of 182 to make her the first pitcher in Harvard history to pass the 200-strikeout mark.

DARTMOUTH 5, HARVARD 2

While the Big Green managed to score twice at the top of the second and build on its lead throughout the game, the Crimson nonetheless had its own opportunities to score.

Its best attempt came at the bottom of the second when a fielding error by a Dartmouth outfielder allowed freshman first baseman Whitney Shaw to reach second. Following a hit up the middle from junior outfielder Jen Francis and with Harvard coach Jenny Allard furiously winding her arm to indicate she should continue running, Shaw dove for home plate and was just narrowly tagged out to end the frame.

The Big Green managed to score three more times—twice in the third inning and once in the sixth—to augment its lead. Brown pitched the final four innings for the Crimson, allowing just two hits and one run in her attempt to counter Dartmouth’s momentum.

“I really went in there thinking that I was pitching for the team,” Brown said. “We needed to hold them scoreless so that we could come back and score. ”

Brown was able to inspire a comeback for Harvard, though it ultimately came too late. Shaw got the action going with a double to right center and junior third baseman Melissa Schellberg, who is also a Crimson sports editor, brought her home with a double of her own that glanced over the head of Dartmouth’s third baseman.

Schellberg made it to third when the Big Green’s catcher failed to control a wild pitch and made it home off a single by Francis to make the score 5-2.

“The team thrives on momentum and once we started getting going, I think everyone knew in their heads that we could continue scoring,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, [Dartmouth] had some things work out for them and…things just didn’t really fall into place for us.”

DARTMOUTH 2, HARVARD 0

Strong pitching from Dartmouth made the difference in tension-filled Game 1 as Big Green pitcher Hillary Barker allowed four hits and no runs in her seven innings of work.

Brown, who pitched the first four innings before being relieved by junior Margaux Black, did not allow a single hit in her first three innings.

But an error by Shaw in the fourth allowed a runner to reach first base. A well-executed bunt combined with a single quickly loaded the bases for Dartmouth. A single up the middle by the Big Green’s Alyssa Parker brought home the only two runs of the game.

Dartmouth looked to threaten later in the inning with runners on second and third and just one out. But a strikeout by Brown and an out at first defused a potentially dangerous situation for the Crimson. Despite the strong defensive play, Harvard just couldn’t come up with enough offense to answer the Big Green’s runs.

“In the first game, our hits weren’t there—we weren’t stringing them together and that definitely showed in the score,” Shaw said.

—Staff writer Lucy D. Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu.