Pitching Miscues Lead to Loss in Chestnut Hill

CHESNUT HILL, Mass.—Unable to atone for its early pitching miscues, the Harvard softball team dropped its cross-town matchup to Boston College, 4-1.

The Eagles (10-22, 5-6 ACC) jumped up to an early lead against the Crimson (22-12, 6-2 Ivy) in the first inning. Nicole D’Argento reached first on a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

With a runner in scoring position, Harvard junior pitcher Rachel Brown threw a wild pitch that hit the dirt before the plate and flew up in the air. The pitch allowed D’Argento to come around to score the game’s first run.

Boston College’s second run followed soon after. Brown surrendered two consecutive walks to Brittany Wilkins and Tory Speer, and another Brown wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position.

Ronnie Mae Ayers drove in the inning’s second run on a sacrifice fly to center. The Crimson recorded a double play, throwing out Speer as she tagged from second, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Eagles from scoring what would prove to be the game-winner.

“Rachel was obviously off to a rough start,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “She had to alter her game plan much earlier than we thought she would have to.”

The Crimson went down in order in the second inning, giving the home team another chance at the plate.

Boston College built a 3-0 lead on a Maria Pandolfo home run to left field.

Harvard finally found the scoreboard in the third inning. Co-captain and outfielder Emily Henderson led off the inning with an infield single. After an error by the Eagles’ second baseman allowed sophomore Stephanie Regan to load the bases, freshman infielder Kasey Lange hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Henderson in from third.

Down 3-1 going into the fourth, the Crimson put a runner on with a one-out single from sophomore Ashley Heritage. But the chance at a rally quickly died, as junior Jane Alexander and Henderson recorded two quick outs.

Despite scoring only one run on the day, the Crimson’s defense and pitching performed well after the first two frames. Brown gave up just one more run in her final three innings of work. In the field, the squad played well behind the starter, including two solid plays in the fourth.

“We’ve had a very strong defensive game all year,” Allard said. “We trust ourselves when the ball gets put into play. But we’ve got great pitchers, and the team’s working well together.”

In the fifth, BC second baseman Alison Kooistra reached first on a walk. But when Kooistra tried to steal second, Harvard freshman catcher Allison Scott fired it across the diamond to beat Kooistra to the bag. The Crimson quickly notched the second out of the inning on a pop up.

But Harvard couldn’t entirely shut down the Eagles offense, and Boston College knocked a home run to deep left, pushing the score to 4-1. The Crimson retired the side on the next batter.

“I think our whole team works really well together,” Henderson said. “Sometimes teams have trouble between the infield and the outfield, but we’ve had a good run. It’s really meshed together.”

Both teams brought in new pitchers in toward the game’s last innings. Brown was pulled after five frames. The junior notched four strikeouts but surrendered two hits, four runs, and three walks. Eagles’ starter Amanda Horowitz stepped down after six innings. Horowitz gave up just one run and one walk on five hits.

Freshman Laura Ricciardone pitched the final inning of the game for the Crimson, and she had no trouble on the hill, pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts.