In the top of the third, however, Harvard's defense caused a minor scare.

After the Terrier leadoff batter reached second on a high throw from shortstop Hayes, Ann Concemi squared to bunt--and received a pitch in the dirt from Rubin. Undaunted, she golfed the ball towards the mound, and Rubin's throw sailed over first-sacker Brown's head, allowing the run to score.

But B.U. could only rake up the single tally, and the Crimson escaped the inning with a three-run advantage.

Rubin--who won 11 games last year--hit her stride in the fourth inning, and faced just 10 batters over the final four frames. In fact, the senior co-captain--who did not yield a single walk--threw a mere 64 pitches on the afternoon.

"Gerri really got stronger as the game went on," Wentzell said. "They had hit her pretty hard in the first few innings."

With the 5-2 lead inching up to 6-2 on a Brown line-drive round-tripper in the bottom of the sixth, however, Rubin had all the offensive support necessary to cop her first victory of the season.

"We're swinging the bats well, hitting the ball on the nose," Wentzell said.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard next sees action tomorrow afternoon, when it travels to MIT for a 3:30 p.m. start...B.U.'s two pitchers, Meredith Fuherer and Lisa Sliwinski, combined for three walks and three whiffs...The Terriers are now 0-2, with a previous, 8-4 loss to Gordon College...Yardling Nancy Prior got her first collegiate start, playing right field for the Crimson and going 1-for-3 at the plate...Mary Sheehan notched the first bunt-single for the batswomen, in the third inning.