1996

Sports Statistics

Record: 32-19-1, 8-4 Ivy

Ivy Finish: 2nd

Coach: Jenny Allard

Key Players: Co-Captain Katina Lee, Junior Tasha Cupp, Freshman Deborah Abeles

1997

The 1997 season was a bittersweet one for the Harvard softball team. While the Crimson came up short of its goal to capture an Ivy crown, a late-season surge helped Harvard secure a trip to the ECAC Tournament, where it captured second place and capped off a very successful season.

Harvard started the season in rocky fashion, dropping its first three games to Central Michigan, Florida Atlantic and Auburn. However, the Crimson bounced right back to win its next four contests, three of them against the very same opponents.

The roller coaster ride continued from there. Harvard had trouble mustering up any offense and the squad dropped six of its next seven games, all of them at home.

But then the ride took a nice turn, as the Crimson won 11 of its next 12 games. The highlight of that stretch was an 11-inning thriller which Harvard stole from Holy Cross, 2-1.

The Crimson then went without a victory in its next five games before drubbing Yale, 9-2. During the subsequent two weeks, Harvard did not have a winning or losing streak that lasted more than two games.

That is when the Harvard bats came to life.

With six of its last eight regular season games being Ivy contests, the Crimson made a furious run at the title. The team went on a seven-game winning streak and, although unable to catch the eventual champion Brown, Harvard secured a second-place finish in the Ancient Eight standings.

The only thing left to do at that point was to wait and see if the Crimson would earn an invitation to the ECAC Championships. And when May 10 came around, the Harvard players found themselves on the diamond once again, playing for a different title.