It's what they have waited for all year long. It's a culmination of 47 hard-fought games and four long months of training.

The ECAC Tournament begins tomorrow afternoon and after two convincing wins yesterday against Dartmouth, the Harvard softball players appear ready for anyone.

In a doubleheader which had been twice rescheduled due to inclement weather, the Crimson was finally able to play out its remaining two regular season games against the Big Green in Hanover, N.H.

"It was a little bit of a pain," said freshman Deborah Abeles about the rescheduling. "One of the good things is that since we had it this late, it prepped us for this weekend."

After a nine-day layoff, the Crimson definitely needed to get the kinks out.

After squeaking by Dartmouth 2-1 in the first contest, the Crimson exploded with an eight-run offensive barrage in the nightcap.

Harvard 2, Dartmouth 1

It's been said a million times over, but when the offense struggles, a team must look to its pitching.

Fortunately for the Crimson, junior Tasha Cupp is always around.

The Crimson played through four innings without the righty standout, posting the game's first run in the top of the fourth.

Abeles crushed a triple to lead off the inning and was quickly sent home by a Melissa Kreuder single to center field.

Dartmouth immediately took charge and evened the contest up in the bottom half of the inning.

But that's when Harvard coach Jenny Allard called in her ace.

Striking out 10 of the next 11 batters, Cupp decimated the Big Green offense, allowing her team to stay even with Big Green.

"Whenever we need to get the big outs [Cupp] does just that," Kreuder said. "To have such a strong pitcher on the mound, it takes pressure off our defense and off our bats when they're tired."