Harvard Begins Campaign to Defend Ivy Title

After a disappointing 15-6 loss to Bryant on Tuesday, the Harvard softball team gathered together and discussed its mistakes. The pitching staff had walked 13 batters and hit two others while the defense committed three errors that led to five unearned runs.

“Nobody felt good after that game,” co-captain Rachel Brown said.

In all, the team decided it had lacked the focus and mental toughness necessary to achieve its potential. An additional practice on Wednesday night was added to the schedule to work on those issues, because after losing three of its last four contests, the team had to rediscover its early-season stride, and fast. The Cornell game was quickly approaching.

Before the 2011 season, the Crimson spent every offseason practice thinking about beating Cornell. After losing to the Big Red in the Ivy League Championship Series, the team was mentally preparing for their rivals in each fall and winter preparation session, wanting desperately to take down No. 1.

On Friday, the roles will be reversed.

Thanks to Harvard’s sweep of the 2011 league championship series by a combined score of 9-0, it is now the Crimson (12-7) that has a target on its back and the Big Red (9-10) that will do anything to reclaim glory.

“I know the added incentive that comes from losing a championship series,” senior Jane Alexander said. “Their effort will be ramped up.”

But Cornell shouldn’t expect to host a complacent Harvard squad content with its Ivy victory last season, Alexander said. This team is not ready to return to second place.

“The seniors all have a very vivid memory of losing to them our sophomore year, and the emotion that came from that game has stuck with us through the years,” Alexander said. “We made sure we didn’t relent in the offseason, even after a successful season.”

The team’s offseason focus wasn’t on display in Tuesday’s home opener though, as it suffered the loss to Bryant. Brown, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, struggled mightily for the first time this season, surrendering five runs in just over four innings of work. The last time Brown took a loss and gave up as many runs was a year ago against none other than the Big Red.

Despite the difficult afternoon for Brown, Alexander is confident that the team’s star pitcher will be able to continue carrying the team this weekend.

“She’s a fantastic pitcher and…every single one of us knows she will have a great outing this weekend,” Alexander said. “I’m more confident in that than anything in the world.”

Beyond Brown, the whole squad is working to rediscover its early groove in advance of Friday’s contests. After winning seven of eight games in California over spring break, the Crimson has dropped three of its last five contests since coming back east.

“Our team should have an immense amount of confidence because we have played and beaten some very good teams,” Brown said. “But on the flipside, we’ve had some adversity recently. This sport is very humbling. We need to play with confidence but also not take any team lightly. We set a high goal for our season and [Tuesday] proved it’s not going to be easy.”

Focus and desire shouldn’t be lacking Friday as Harvard faces the team that Brown considers to be its biggest rival.

“Any conference game has a lot of added emotion, but any game against Cornell has even more emotion,” Alexander said.

After seeing the squad in the Ivy Championship in back-to-back years, the Crimson won’t be fooled into complacency by the Big Red’s current 9-10 record. Cornell is 3-2 in its last five games as its bats have caught fire. The team is collectively hitting nearly .350 over the stretch.

Many of the Big Red’s struggles can be pinned on a pitching staff that has surrendered seven runs in six of its early-season contests. Without ace Elizabeth Dalrymple, who graduated last spring, to anchor the group, four pitchers have started games with limited success. No matter who is pitching Friday, Cornell will play tough at home. It has posted a 56-12 record in Ithaca over the last four years in advance of the 2012 home opener Friday.

After Friday’s doubleheader, Harvard will travel to Princeton (3-16) for two more games on the following day. And, while Brown admitted that the four-game weekends can be both physically and mentally exhausting, Alexander said that the adrenaline can be relied upon to keep the team performing at an elite level.

“The added emotion in the game helps you to not get fatigued,” Alexander said. “You are running on the emotion that goes into a conference game.”

—Staff writer Jacob D. H. Feldman can be reached at jacobfeldman@college.harvard.edu.