CHESTNUT HILL--On days like yesterday, two things about the game of softball become very clear.

First: one contest could, theoretically, last forever.

Second: that's a pretty miserable prospect.

Under a chilly, misting rain at Boston College, the Harvard softball team clashed with the Eagles in a game that threatened to go on and on and on...

"It was the kind of game where whoever got the big hit was going to win," Crimson Coach John Wentzell said. "We always fell one hit short, and so did they--until the last inning."

When B.C.'s Maria Montuori finally crossed the plate to give the hosts a 3-2 victory, she snapped nine innings of anticipation.

Anticipation--and a bit of morbid curiosity on both sides as to which pitcher would crack first.

The players in the drama were Harvard's rising freshman star Lora Rowning and Eagle sophomore Lesley Lane.

And for nine innings, under the lights and under the shadow of the B.C. football stadium, each hurler did a stellar job of keeping the opponent at bay.

Yesterday's contest was the first extra-inning venture of the year for the Crimson (now 4-2), and served as a potential showcase for the latest version of one of the NCAA's wackier regulations.

Some softball fans may recall last year's debut of the "place a runner on second base at the start of every extra inning" rule. In other words, starting in the eighth inning, the team at bat begins each frame with a bonus runner sitting on second--a plan designed to facilitate scoring and shorten lengthy deadlocks.

The latest fun twist allows both squads to play out the eighth and ninth frames "normally," only introducing the freebie runners in the tenth.

But in the end, the tenth never came.

In the end, those crazy rule-begotten runners never got a chance to appear.

Because in the end, Montuori scored from second on a kelly Davenport single to right, crossing the plate just ahead of Harvard second baseman Mary Baldauf's desperation throw.

It was the first earned run Rowning had allowed in collegiate ball.

And the first loss--against a pair of wins--for the Yardling from Lake Oswego, Ore.

"Lora was super today," said Wentzell after the game. "She turned in a gutsy performance against one of the best teams in the East. It had to be hard to pitch today, hard to grip and throw the ball."

While Rowning was holding B.C. to just four hits over the course of nine rainy innings, her Eagle counterpart, Lane, was equally successful.

Although the B.C. hurler eventually yielded a total of 10 hits to the Crimson, she was masterful over the first three innings, facing the minimum of three Harvard batters in each.

Meanwhile, Rowning was struggling somewhat, giving up a pair of walks and two singles, escaping both the second and third innings by virtue of double plays.

The game could go on forever.

Or something could snap.

And snap it did--in the top of the fourth.

With two down, Crimson catcher Gia Barresi hit a lazy line drive to left, which dropped in front of Montuori. Cleanup hitter Trisha Brown followed with a single to center, and Sharon Hayes drove Barresi home with a skimmer just beyond the reach of Eagle shortstop Robin LaBrecque.

B.C. didn't take long to retaliate, however, picking up a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame.

Rowning hit the leadoff batter and then, with one out, Maureen Bench slapped the ball into the hole. Harvard third baseman Lisa Rowning made a diving stop, but her rushed throw to second sailed past Baldauf into deep right.

With right fielder Nancy Prior backing up a possible play at first, the ball continued to roll along, unmolested, allowing both Eagles to score.

The Crimson manufactured a catch-up run in the top of the fifth on a string of two-out singles, with a repenting Lisa Rowning driving in Mary Sheehan.

Despite the lone tally, though, the batswomen left the bases loaded, when Brown grounded to short to retire the side.

And from the time of the squandered chance until the bottom of the ninth, the score held tight at two-all.

Harvard came close in the top of the ninth, when Prior--who had reached on a fielder's choice--was stranded on third, but Lane persevered to protect the tie by retiring Elizabeth Crowley.

And a scanty two outs later, Davenport blooped the ball in front of a charging Prior to score Montuori.

THE NOTEBOOK: Barresi, Brown and Crowley each had two hits for the Crimson...Rowning retired 10 Eagle batters on infield pop-ups, including the side in the sixth...Harvard hosts Smith at Soldiers Field tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m.