Jewels

That's when the infield came through with its first gem.

After her teammate advanced to second on a stolen base, Wheaton's Lisa Darcy stroked a blistering grounder into the hole.

Crimson shortstop Sharon Hayes backhanded the shot and unleashed a long throw to first sacker Trisha Brown, who neatly corralled the ball as it skipped at her feet.

The score remained 1-0 through the bottom of the sixth, at which point the Harvard infield--whose members are currently entering their second year of service together--came up with sparkler number two.

With a runner standing on second and two down, third baseman Lisa Rowning--Lora's older sister snagged a hot one-hopper down the line and ended the threat with a perfect throw to first.

She further helped her sister's cause in the top of the seventh, doubling to right and scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Elizabeth Crowley.

The hosts went down one-two-three in the bottom of the seventh, to give the younger Rowning her first collegiate victory.

"Lora was superb, everything we hoped her to be," Wentzell said, "and the infield defense was key--it could easily have been a 2-2 game. That [help] is what you need to pitch a shutout."

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson plays its home opener at Soldiers Field this afternoon at 3:30 p.m., hosting Boston University...Wheaton is now 1-1 on the year, after defeating Smith, 12-5, in its season-opener...Rowning threw 101 pitches on the afternoon...Harvard stranded 11 runners on base, Wheaton left only four...Both Brown and Crowley walked three times for the batswomen.