Ivy North Division Title For Grabs

It’s never easy to go to a rival’s field with everything to lose and pull out a victory. But on Saturday, that’s exactly what the Harvard softball team did—twice.

The Crimson traveled to Hanover, N.H. to take on Dartmouth in the first half of a crucial home-and-home series to decide the Ivy League North title.

In front of a raucous Big Green crowd at Sachem Field, Harvard swept the twinbill, mounting a sixth-inning rally in each game to win by scores of 7-3 and 6-3, respectively.

Freshman pitcher Rachel Brown anchored the Crimson once more, hurling a complete game in the first contest before coming in to save the nightcap.

“We went to Dartmouth with a goal to put ourselves in a really good position for [Sunday], and that’s exactly what we did,” co-captain Hayley Bock said. “Mission accomplished.”

HARVARD 6, DARTMOUTH 3

For the second time in as many games, Harvard found itself trailing heading into the top of the sixth. This time, it was junior Melissa Schellberg who came up with the big hit, blasting a 2-RBI double to left center.

Freshman Whitney Shaw reached on base after being hit by a pitch, and an infield single off the bat of junior Jen Francis induced an error that sent Shaw to third. Francis stole second to set the stage for Schellberg, who is also a Crimson sports editor.

After Schellberg cleared the bases, Bock brought her home on a single up the middle, putting the Crimson up for good, 4-3.

“We stayed really focused and, if anything, we were more fired up for the second game, knowing that the other team’s going to come out wanting revenge,” Bock said.

Dartmouth got on the scoreboard first, putting up three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Harvard junior starter Margaux Black got into a one-out jam after allowing two consecutive singles to start the inning, yielding to classmate Dana Roberts with runners on second and third.

Roberts allowed a three-run shot to junior Christy Autin, the first batter she faced, and then gave up two more singles before pitching out of trouble to limit the Big Green’s lead to 3-0.

The Crimson tacked on an unearned run in the top of the fifth, when Bock, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, came around to score on an error by Dartmouth third baseman Ashley Gleason, who had five errors on the afternoon.

After Harvard took the lead in the top of the sixth, Roberts got into trouble in the bottom of the frame, putting runners on first and third with one out.

Brown got the call, and came in to get two quick outs and escape the jam.

“I got a chance to fill a role, and if any other pitcher was coming in in that situation, I’d want them to pick me up,” Brown said. “Dana had pitched really well, and I wanted to get out of the jam for her and the rest of the team.”

The Crimson iced it in the top of the seventh, with Shaw blasting an RBI double to center field and Francis following up with an RBI single of her own, making the score 6-3.

HARVARD 7, DARTMOUTH 3

Brown once again stole the show in the opener, pitching her 14th complete game of the season for an eight-hit victory.

But it was her routine first-inning strikeout of the Big Green’s Nikki Yee that put Brown in the Harvard record books, setting a new single-season benchmark for strikeouts. She finished the day with 10 on the afternoon and 192 on the season.

“It’s an awesome feeling, but I think it’s definitely overshadowed by what the team’s doing, and I think that’s the way it should be,” Brown said.

Brown was solid all the way through, despite getting touched for two runs in the bottom of the third on back-to-back doubles by Yee and junior Kirsten Costello. But she got a lift from her offense in the top of the sixth.

Three consecutive errors from Dartmouth’s Gleason at third base scored Bock and put sophomore Emily Henderson and co-captain Bailey Vertovez on second and third. With one out, sophomore Ellen Macadam launched a ball over the left-field fence for a three-run homer.

Francis followed with a solo shot to turn the Crimson’s 2-1 deficit into a 6-2 lead.

“We were hitting the ball, and when we weren’t hitting, we weren’t getting frustrated,” Brown said. “The batters were trying to make adjustments. They stayed calm, didn’t really press too hard, stayed relaxed, and were able to have some big hits.”

The Big Green got within three on a sixth-inning homer from freshman Molly Khalil, but Harvard added some insurance in the top of the seventh, with Henderson singling and coming around on yet another error from the Dartmouth third baseman for the 7-3 win.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.