Crimson Softball Sweeps Archrival Yale

The Harvard softball team (19-8, 8-4 Ivy) — returning home after six straight games on the road — wasted no time making a statement by sweeping archrival Yale (18-22, 6-9 Ivy) in a three-game series that stretched from Friday to Tuesday.

The wins thrilled the home crowd and pushed the team’s winning streak to eight games, the longest active streak in the Ivy League.

Harvard opened the series with a thrilling 6-5 extra-inning walk-off on Friday, followed it up with a 9-3 victory in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, and sealed the sweep with a 3-1 win in the finale.

Harvard 6, Yale 5

Harvard faced an early challenge in Friday’s opener. Yale jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, racking up four hits in the first inning and threatening again in the second. But sophomore Nicolette Hunter settled in on the mound, escaping a bases-loaded jam and keeping the Bulldogs within reach.

In the bottom of the second, Harvard’s bats came alive. Freshman designated player Alexa Muller ripped a double to the wall, and fellow freshman Quinn Salazar-Stewart brought her home with an RBI double to put the Crimson on the board.

Yale tacked on solo runs in the third and fourth to extend the lead to 5-1, but Harvard wasn’t going away quietly. In the fifth, captain Savannah Fitzpatrick and freshman Elena Weinseimer started things off with back-to-back singles. Junior Finley Payne followed with a walk to load the bases. From there, the Crimson offense went to work. Sophomore Sophie Sun and Muller each drew RBI walks, and senior Maya Douglas delivered an infield single to bring in a third run. Just like that, the lead was cut to one.

Harvard’s momentum carried into the sixth. With two outs and a full count, Fitzpatrick stepped up and crushed a shot to center field. The ball hit the top of the wall and ricocheted away, and Fitzpatrick never slowed down, scoring on a dramatic inside-the-park home run to tie the game at five.

The Crimson continued to play well for the rest of the game. Juniors Riley Flynn and Ryan Grace combined for over five innings of nearly flawless relief, giving up just two hits and striking out eight. That set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. After a walk and an infield single, senior Priyanka Kaul came to the plate and drove a single up the middle. Payne raced home from second, giving Harvard a thrilling walk-off win to open the series.

Harvard 9, Yale 3

On Tuesday afternoon, Harvard kept the energy high. In the first game of the doubleheader, Payne opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third — her fifth of the season. Later that inning, Douglas added a clutch two-out RBI single to stretch the lead to 2-0. Yale answered with a run, but Harvard didn’t let up.

Fitzpatrick reached on a bunt single to start the fourth, with sophomore Audrey Szollosi following with a single. Sun then broke things open with a towering three-run homer to center, giving the Crimson a 5-1 lead.

The fifth inning brought more damage to Yale. Muller and Kaul both drew walks, and Douglas, already having had a strong weekend, smacked a double off the right-field wall to bring them in. Payne added another RBI single shortly after, giving Harvard a commanding 9–1 lead. Yale managed two runs in the sixth, but the outcome was never really in question. Flynn tossed five solid innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out five, while Grace once again closed things out in the seventh.

Harvard 3, Yale 1

In Sunday’s series finale, with the sweep on the line, Harvard turned to Hunter once more. Yale struck first with a run in the top of the first inning, but that was all it would get.

Hunter showed poise, delivering one of her best starts of the season. Over seven innings, she allowed just four hits, no walks, and retired the final eleven batters she faced.

Harvard took control in the bottom of the fifth. Fitzpatrick reached base, Payne doubled to center field, sending Szollosi and pinch runner Mizo home. Their runs put the first points on the board for the Crimson, giving the home team a 2-1 advantage. Sun then added an insurance RBI single to send Payne home, making it 3-1. From there, Hunter took care of business by pitching four straight scoreless innings to close out the win and complete the sweep.

With the three wins and just three conference series left in the regular season, the Crimson is firmly in the postseason mix. Its recent success has been fueled by a balanced pitching staff, timely hitting, and consistent veteran leadership.

Next up, Harvard faces Brown in another crucial three-game Ivy series. With the league tournament approaching, the Crimson will look to carry this momentum forward and keep its streak alive.