Advertisement

Sooners Sock Softball Twice in NCAA Regional

Harvard soars over Eagles, ousted by Oklahoma

All good things must come to an end, and so it went for the Harvard softball team this weekend.

Harvard (34-22, 12-0 Ivy) had its historic season come to an end in the NCAA Regionals on Totman Field in Amherst, courtesy of seventh-ranked powerhouse Oklahoma (49-15).

The Crimson dropped its opening game of the double-elimination Regional to the Sooners, 8-0, on Friday afternoon. Although Harvard bounced back to eliminate Boston College (38-14-1) in convincing fashion, 11-2, on Saturday, the Crimson was then ousted by Oklahoma in the Region Five semifinals, 3-0, later in the day.

Harvard's 34 victories represent the most in school history. The Regional semifinals also represent the farthest Harvard has ever gone in the postseason.

"We definitely had a good showing and turned a lot of people's heads," said Harvard co-captain Jenny Franzese. "I definitely felt like we belonged there." HARVARD  0 OKLAHOMA  8 HARVARD  11 BOSTON COLLEGE  2 HARVARD  0 OKLAHOMA  3

UMass (45-12) won the Region and advanced to the Women's College World Series along with the winners of the other seven regions. The Minutewomen defeated Boston College, 3-2, in the Region's openinggame, before defeating Oklahoma once on Saturdayand again on Sunday to earn the World Series spot.

UMass junior pitcher Danielle Henderson pickedup all three victories for the Minutewomen and wasnamed the Region Five Most Outstanding Player forthe second consecutive year. Henderson struck out33 batters in her 21 innings and posted a 0.33ERA.

Advertisement

Oklahoma 8, Harvard 0

Harvard had a difficult time touchingOklahoma's pitching all weekend, and that factbecame apparent early on in the Crimson's openinggame. Oklahoma senior Jennifer Jaime (16-4) threwa complete game one-hitter to earn the shutout andend Harvard's 11-game winning streak, the thirdlongest in the nation.

Jaime's counterpart, Harvard freshman ChelseaThoke, was ineffective against a Sooners lineupthat was strong from spots one through nine. Afterkeeping Oklahoma off the scoreboard for threeinnings, Thoke allowed one run in the fourth, twoin the fifth and five in the sixth. She gave upseven earned runs and six walks on 12 hits whilestriking out five batters in five and two-thirdsinnings.

"You have to be on top of your game all thetime because the bottom of their lineup can hurtyou as much as the top," Thoke said after thegame. "It definitely tired me out having to workso hard on all nine batters."

Juniors Lynette Velasquez and Stephanie Clarkeach had 2-for-3, three-RBI days at the plate forOklahoma. Clark's fourth inning double into leftcenterfield brought junior Deborah Hargrave aroundfor the first run of the game. The Sooners addedtwo more in the fifth on an RBI double by seniorRachel Johnson and a throwing error by Harvardjunior co-captain and Ivy League Player of theYear Tara LaSovage.

Harvard's slim hopes of pulling off the upsetwere dashed in the sixth when Oklahoma explodedfor five runs, all coming with two outs. Velasquezstarted the scoring when she came up with thebases loaded and stroked a base-clearing doubleinto the right centerfield gap to double theSooners' lead to 6-0.

Johnson followed with a walk, and a single byfreshman Jaime White loaded the bases again forClark. The leftfielder plated Velasquez andJohnson with a single into center, making thescore 8-0 and invoking the mercy rule to end thegame.

"The key to hitting well is makingadjustments," said Harvard sophomore shortstopDeborah Abeles. "It was obvious as the game wenton that we weren't making the right adjustments."

Harvard's lone hit of the game came courtesy ofjunior catcher Terri Teller. Teller singled toleft with one out in the top of the fourth.

Harvard 11, Boston College 2

Recommended Articles

Advertisement