Be it ever so humble, there's nothing like a home opener.

And although the Harvard softball team didn't play the prettiest game imaginable in its Soldiers Field kicker-offer yesterday, it nonetheless walked away with a satisfying 6-2 triumph over Boston University.

For the second afternoon in a row, the Crimson (now 2-0) scored first and stayed ahead for good--but unlike Monday's crisp two-hitter over Wheaton, yesterday's game featured grind-it-out play on the part of both squads.

And when it came right down to it, the batswomen were able to grub a little better than the Terriers.

"We were a little lackadaisical, a little sloppy starting off," said Harvard Coach John Wentzell. "B.U. certainly wasn't an Ivy-quality team, but we have a week and a half to get ready for that, to work our bugs out."

The Crimson plays a non-league schedule until the weekend of April 12-13, when it travels south to face Penn and Ivy powerhouse Princeton.

In the interim, the batswomen will have time to mount an extermination campaign against some of the bugs that scuttled into light yesterday--namely sloppy baserunning and hesitant fielding.

And simultaneously, Harvard will hone its munching skills and continue to feast on teams like the Terriers.

Even though both squads committed an equal number of errors (two apiece), Harvard picked up a pair of runs off miscues, while B.U. only garnered one.

Even though Crimson hurler Gerri Rubin wasn't in peak form yesterday--yielding seven hits over the course of the seven-inning contest--she settled down in the middle innings to stifle any Terrier comeback hopes.

And even though the hosts had just two more hits than the visitors, they cooked up a winning concoction of hits, walks, and B.U. errors.

Harvard jumped ahead in the bottom of the first, as Terrier infielders mangled their first two chances resulting in a pronto pair of runs.

B.U. second baseman Beth Marcus stroked a home run down the right field line in the top of the second, but the Crimson responded promptly in the bottom of the frame, to pull to a commanding 5-1 lead.

A Mary Baldauf triple and walks to Lisa Rowning and Sharon Hayes loaded the bases for Harvard, and Trisha Brown brought one duck home with a single up the middle.

Freshman Elizabeth Crowley--the only lefty in the Crimson lineup--completed the damage with a two-run single to left-center.