Softball Falls to Providence, 5-3

After completing a four-game road trip to start the Ivy season, the Crimson started its twelve game home stand with a contest against Providence. Harvard grabbed the lead early, but the Crimson (9-15, 2-2) proved unable to hang on against the Friars (10-17-1), losing 5-3.

Junior Kasey Lange started the Crimson off strong, blasting a solo home run in the bottom of the first. The Friars responded in the third inning, stringing together three singles to plate their first runner of the game.

Harvard was able to load the bases with one in the bottom of the inning, but could not manage to drive in any more runs. Providence broke away with three runs over the next two innings. Lange led off the fifth for the Crimson with another solo home run, and the Crimson scored again in the sixth. But it was not enough.

“There were some bright spots, such as the two home runs—we were just missing things that we can fix,” freshman Morgan Groom said. “It was things such as scoring runs and executing pitches.”

Harvard amassed 13 hits, its largest total of the season, but left a combined 14 runners on base. Along with the two home runs from Lange, senior Stephanie Regan and sophomore Katherine Appelbe hit doubles on the afternoon. Providence, on the other hand, plated five runners despite recording only one extra base hit.

“I think we’re really close to turning a huge corner,” said Lange. “We’re getting a lot of runners on base, but our focus now is just coming up with a few clutch hits to score those runs.”

Thus far, Lange has proved to be the Crimson’s most clutch player. Her two home runs give her a total of eight for the season, placing her second in the Ivy League, behind Yale’s Sarah Onorato, who has nine. Lange ranks fourth in the Ancient Eight with 19 RBIs.

Once again, the freshman pair of Jamie Halula and Groom took the mound for the Crimson. Halula started the game for Harvard, giving up 2 runs, six hits, and one walk in four innings of work. She also struck out two batters in picking up the loss. Groom, who has the principal starter in recent contests, came into relief to finish the game. She gave up only three hits, but along with these came an equal amount of runs.

“I don’t know their names, but the middle of their line-up did a good job of producing with runners on base,” said Lange. “They got the hits when they needed them, and we were unable to make that execution.”

This year’s game marks the 34th time these two teams have met. Last year, the Crimson dropped a 3-2 decision to the Friars. Providence leads the all-time series 20-12-1 with the last Crimson win coming in 2010.

The Crimson has played many close games this season, losing many of these contests because the team has struggled to pull together all its strengths. Whether it has been fielding or pitching or stringing together hits, the players’ acknowledge that the team’s game has yet to fully click on all cylinders.

“I think we’re really close to turning a huge corner,” Lange said. “We’re getting a lot of runners on base, but our focus now is just coming up with a few clutch hits to score those runs.

In three home games this season, the Crimson has only won one game. Still, the players acknowledge the comfort Soldiers Field brings them.

“We are really excited to be home for awhile,” Lange added. “March is so much fun for us, but five weekends straight on the road is tough on any team. We love our field and our fans and can’t wait to play some more games in front of them.”

After a brief respite, Harvard returns to the Ancient Eight grind, hosting back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend—Princeton on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. These games mark the quarter-way point of Ivy League play, and the Crimson believe they certainly have the ability to knock the games out of the park.

“We can definitely win all four games,” Groom said. “We have the people to-definitely have a chance to win every game we play.”

—Staff writer Jacob Lynch can be reached at jacoblynch@college.harvard.edu.