Lange Matches Record, Softball Falls to BC

With one out in the first inning, junior third baseman Kasey Lange stepped to the plate and made history.

After senior left fielder Stephanie Regan got on base with a leadoff single, Lange opened her evening with a two-run shot to right field. Lange’s 28th home run in a Crimson uniform—and 11th of the season—tied her with Tiffany Whitton ’03 for the all-time school record.

With regular season games left to play and another full season with the Harvard softball team, Lange is poised to become the program’s leading long ball hitter.

“It was exciting, but honestly I would have rather come out with a win today,” said Lange, who didn’t find out that she had tied the record until a teammate texted her later. “It’s cool to be in the record books, but we have a bigger task ahead of us this weekend.”

Despite Lange’s early offensive effort, the Crimson (21-19, 11-5 Ivy) was unable to hold on to its two-run lead and fell to Boston College (13-30, 2-13 ACC), 6-4, in its last non-conference game of the season.

With the division-deciding, four-game series with Dartmouth coming up this weekend and sophomore shortstop Emily Gusse out with an illness, Harvard sported an unusual lineup against the Eagles.

Freshman Haley Davis, who took over for Gusse at shortstop, hit seventh, and sophomore second baseman Katherine Lantz moved into the cleanup spot. Freshman Alyssa Siegmann got the start at designated hitter.

“We’re confident that anyone at anytime can step up and get the job done,” Lange said. “A job is a job, and if someone’s on base ahead of you, you want to hit them in.”

After Lange’s home run put the Crimson up two, Boston College came back with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning. Harvard extended its lead to two again in the top of the third when Lantz scored Regan on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Although Harvard outhit the Eagles, 7-6, Boston College did its damage at the plate and on the base paths with a four-run third inning.

“We didn’t do a good job of isolating their hits,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “They stole some bases, which put runners in scoring position, and then they had a few walks and a timely home run that really hurt us.”

Freshman starting pitcher Morgan Groom struck out the first batter of the third inning before giving up a one-out double to freshman right fielder Megan Cooley. Freshman second baseman Jessie Daulton walked and stole second before junior shortstop Alana DiMaso drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Down a run with two outs, the Eagles weren’t done. Senior centerfielder Maria Pandolfo—who went two for three—hit a towering home run to centerfield, putting Boston College on top for good.

“The ball was really breaking, but Morgan needs to do better hitting her spots,” Allard said. “She was facing too many batters because every time she walked someone she brought up another to face.”

Harvard started to mount a comeback in the top of the seventh when sophomore first baseman Adrienne Hume doubled to left center. Freshman centerfielder Zoe Galindo flied out to right, but with two outs, Regan doubled to center. Regan’s third hit of the night brought home sophomore pinch runner Andrea Del Conte, narrowing the Eagles’ lead to two runs.

But the rally would not last, as junior captain and right fielder Shelbi Olson lined out to second base to end the game. Allard said she was not concerned with the result of Thursday’s game going into the final weekend.

“We always play with a little more emotion and motivation at our weekend conference games,” Allard said. “But we played a good game, except for a couple mistakes on the mound. If we hadn’t given up that three-run home run, that’s a 4-3 win.”

Boston College lefty Stephanie Lord pitched the complete game and allowed four runs—all earned—on seven hits and a walk.

“It was good preparation for Dartmouth,” Lange said. “They had a lefty pitcher, which is what we’re pretty sure we’re going to be facing this weekend. There were a couple of things that we could have done better, but we’re feeling prepped for the weekend.”

—Staff writer Hope Schwartz can be reached at hschwartz@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @HopeSchwartz16.