Softball Wins Two of Five at Under Armour Invitational

The Harvard softball team concluded its five-game season-opening trip to Florida on a sour note, falling, 4-2, in Sunday’s finale of the 2012 USF Under Armour Invitational to tournament host University of South Florida. After winning its first two games Friday, the Crimson left the 17-team invitational, held at Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla., at 2-3 overall after dropping its final three contests.

“We looked at the competition, and everyone was close,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “We could have lost all five games, and we could have won all five games.”

SOUTH FLORIDA 4, HARVARD 2

The Bulls (14-3) took control of Sunday’s game early, scoring a run in each of the first two innings off Harvard sophomore Laura Ricciardone before tacking on two more in the fourth.

The Crimson’s (2-3) offense was limited throughout by USF sophomore Sara Nevins, who tallied eight strikeouts and allowed only one earned run in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Harvard did have its chances against Nevins, loading the bases with no outs in the fifth inning before Nevins struck out three consecutive batters to retire the side. In the sixth inning, the Crimson’s first two hitters again reached base safely but did not advance beyond second base, as Nevins worked her way out of another tight spot.

Harvard added a consolation run in the seventh inning, but the final result was never in doubt.

“We had very high expectations going into this weekend, and I don’t think we met those,” co-captain pitcher Rachel Brown said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement, but there were a lot of positive things that we saw as well. We were hitting the ball well, just right at players.”

“We created a lot of opportunities for ourselves [this weekend], which is really exciting, but we left [37] runners on base,” Allard said. “What we need to do next weekend is begin to capitalize on some of those opportunities.”

MIAMI (OHIO) 2, HARVARD 1

In its second contest Saturday afternoon, Harvard fell, 2-1, in extra innings to Miami (Ohio).

The two teams were at a stalemate for most of the game; Brown carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and the Crimson lineup did not record more than one hit in any inning. With no runs scored by either team in the first seven frames, the contest continued into extra innings.

Senior shortstop Jane Alexander’s RBI single in the top of the eighth looked to be a game-winner for Harvard, given the manner in which Brown had shut down the RedHawks (1-4) over the previous seven frames. But Miami managed to rally in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on a wild pitch before claiming the victory with a walk-off single by Shanyn McIntyre.

“It was a game where we had a lot of opportunities, but things didn’t fall our way,” Brown said. “It was the most frustrating of the five games. Things didn’t quite click for us. We were getting a lot of runners on base, but we weren’t stringing rallies together.”

WESTERN MICHIGAN 3, HARVARD 1

Despite jumping out to an early lead, the Crimson could not sustain its offensive production, ultimately suffering a 3-1 defeat to Western Michigan (4-7) early Saturday afternoon.

Alexander’s RBI single in the third inning put Harvard ahead, 1-0, but the Crimson was unable to hold its advantage for long. The Broncos scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and added another in the fifth, assuming a lead they never relinquished. Western Michigan pitcher Meredith Whitney then quieted the Crimson’s bats, allowing just two hits the rest of the game.

HARVARD 2, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 0

Keyed by a strong pitching performance from Ricciardone, Harvard continued its early success Friday with a 2-0 win over Loyola Marymount (13-8).

A pair of two-out singles from sophomore third baseman Kasey Lange and sophomore catcher Allison Scott put the Crimson on the scoreboard in the fourth inning before sophomore right fielder Shelbi Olson singled in Alexander in the seventh to put Harvard up two runs.

It was all the cushion Ricciardone needed on her way to recording the team’s first shutout of the season.

HARVARD 2, TOLEDO 1

In its opening game of the year, the Crimson secured a 2-1 victory over Toledo (4-10) behind timely hitting and a solid outing from Brown.

The Rockets’ Lindsey Tobias tied the game up in the fourth inning with an RBI single, but Olson mustered an immediate response with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning. Brown was able to protect the lead on the mound and earned her first win of the season.