North Stars

By sweeping Dartmouth in two doubleheaders this weekend, the Harvard softball team clinched its second consecutive North Division crown and gained home-field advantage at next weekend’s Ivy League Championship Series.

The Crimson (34-14, 18-2 Ivy) offense was on fire the entire weekend, scoring a total of 37 runs against the Big Green (17-22, 10-10 Ivy) to earn two comfortable victories.

“We knew we needed only one win to host and to clinch the title,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “But the girls just stayed hungry for all four games and continued to play great.”

“We played so well,” freshman third baseman Kasey Lange added. “This is great for us going into Ivy League Championships next weekend, to get this momentum going.”

HARVARD 10, DARTMOUTH 1

In the final contest of the weekend, Harvard junior pitchers Rachel Brown and Mari Zumbro shut down the Dartmouth offense, holding the Big Green to a single run.

The Crimson took an early 5-1 lead in the bottom of the second off of freshman Shelbi Olson’s two-RBI single to center field, sophomore Stephanie Regan’s RBI single, and Lange’s RBI double.

One inning later, Harvard increased its lead to 8-1 on a Zumbro RBI single to right field and co-captain Ellen Macadam’s single to center, which plated in two more.

The game’s scoring concluded with a Lange two-run home run, which extended her RBI count to nine for the weekend and an Ivy League-best 64 for the season.

HARVARD 10, DARTMOUTH 9

The first matchup of yesterday’s doubleheader was the closest of the weekend, with the lead switching hands nearly every inning.

After being tied in the first inning, 1-1, the Crimson took a 2-1 lead in the second on an error by the visitors.

But Dartmouth came back swinging in the third, scoring seven runs to gain an 8-2 lead on Harvard.

The Crimson responded in the fourth by scoring seven runs of its own, taking back the lead, 9-8.

After a scoreless fifth inning, the Big Green tied the game back up in the sixth at 9-9, but ultimately lost, 10-9, in the seventh when Harvard junior Eve Rosenbaum scored off of an Olson single to left center field.

HARVARD 9, DARTMOUTH 7

The second half of Saturday’s doubleheader proved much like the third game of the weekend, with the Crimson gaining and losing the lead several times throughout the matchup before ultimately winning, 9-7.

RBI singles up the middle from Lange and Macadam helped Harvard grab hold of an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning.

But the Crimson soon found itself in the opposite position, when three innings later, Harvard was losing, 7-4, after the bottom of the fifth.

The deficiency didn’t last long, as the Crimson scored six runs in the top of the sixth to take back the lead, 9-7.

After knocking a two-RBI triple to bring in Olson and junior shortstop Jane Alexander, Macadam scored on an illegal pitch. Junior first baseman Whitney Shaw then singled to right field to bring in Lange and Regan, the last runs scored in the matchup.

HARVARD 8, DARTMOUTH 1

In the first game of the weekend, Brown and the Harvard defense silenced the Dartmouth bats, striking out six batters and allowing the Big Green only one run in seven innings.

After a scoreless first two innings, the Crimson offense came alive in the top of the third, with a Lange three-run home run.

In the fifth, Harvard sophomore Ashley Heritage plated in two more with a single down the left field line, to bring the Crimson’s lead to 5-1.

Harvard scored three in the top of the seventh with an RBI single from Zumbro and an Alexander single that brought home Zumbro and Heritage.

The victory earned the Crimson both the North Division title and home-field advantage at Ivy League Championships next weekend. It will host either Cornell or Penn, which will play a doubleheader this week.

“Having home-field advantage is great,” freshman pitcher Laura Ricciardone said. “It really sets the tone for things. They have to come to us, they have to beat us on our own field, and it gives us an upper hand right from the get-go.”

“It’s so important,” Lange agreed. “The fans here are just awesome. It’s our house, and we’re not going to let anyone take us down in our house.”

—Staff writer Marlee Melendy can be reached at melendy@college.harvard.edu.