Her 10 dingers, 53 RBI and 71 hits (including the playoffs) this year are all new single-season records as well. For her contribution Abeles joined Cupp on the All-Ivy First Team and NEISCA Division I All-Star Team. She garnered a spot on the Northeast All-Region First Team as well.

Junior co-captain and second baseman Tara LaSovage became the first Harvard player ever to be voted Ivy League Player of the Year. She batted an eye-popping .526 in 12 conference games and was also named to the All-Ivy First Team.

Franzese, Harvard's starting centerfielder in all four years of her career, was named to the All-Ivy Second Team. She also received NEISCA Division I All-Star Honorable Mention accolades.

Juniors third baseman Meredith Bagley and rightfielder Karen Rice and sophomore utility player Jessie Amberg rounded out Harvard's list of All-Ivy First Team selections. Senior leftfielder Hillary Read, junior catcher Terri Teller and freshman pitcher Chelsea Thoke joined Franzese as All-Ivy Second Team honorees, and freshman utility player Mairead McKendry was an All-Ivy Honorable Mention.

"In previous years, we've felt that we deserved more recognition than we received," Cupp said. "To finally make the most of all our talent is great. And the best part was that it wasn't just the stars who were honored--a lot of players who have been solid for the last few years made it also. Everyone was recognized."

But the individual accomplishments and recognition are only representations of what Harvard softball achieved as a team in 1998. The Crimson, quite simply, enjoyed the best season in the history of its program.

Harvard kicked off its 1998 campaign at the Florida Atlantic Invitational where it posted a 4-2 record. The Crimson dropped its opening game, 8-5, to Florida Atlantic before rebounding to defeat Furman, 8-2, and Villanova, 1-0. A close 3-2 loss to then No.13 Missouri inspired Harvard with the confidence to compete against top-caliber teams, and the Crimson closed out its trip to South Florida with a 2-1 victory over No. 20 Illinois-Chicago and an 11-3 rout of Florida International.

After its excursion to Florida, Harvard headed to the West Coast for a 19-game, spring break swing through California. Harvard sandwiched three doubleheaders between the Sacramento State Tournament and the Cal State-Hayward Tournament, going 8-11 for the week against some of the nation's top teams.

Harvard posted victories over the likes of Central Michigan, Kansas and Ohio State. It also suffered convincing defeats at the hands of third-ranked Fresno State, fifth-ranked Nebraska and ninth-ranked Stanford. Still, the Crimson returned to Cambridge confident that its effort against some of the country's best would make the team much more competitive against its East Coast rivals. It did.

After splitting three doubleheaders against Hofstra, Rutgers and Holy Cross in early April, Harvard proceeded to win 17 of its final 20 games, including separate winning streaks of six and nine games. The Crimson capped off its first undefeated Ivy season in school history, captured its First ever Ivy title and earned a spot in an NCAA Play-In Series against Holy Cross with the winner destined for the NCAA Regionals.

"We didn't know how good we were after the California trip," Franzese said, "but it helped us prepare for the rest of the season."

Harvard made quick work of Holy Cross in the best-of-three series, sweeping the Crusaders, 7-4 and 6-0, and the Crimson entered the Regionals riding an 11-game winning streak, the third longest in the nation at the time. Harvard was seeded fourth of four teams in Region 5 and traveled to Amherst, Mass. to square off against top-seed and No. 7 Oklahoma in the first round of the double-elimination Regional.

"We were playing really well as a team at the end of the season," Cupp said. "People were sore and exams were coming up, but it just didn't matter."

With several Harvard players forced to take final exams on the road during the Regional, the Sooners' pitching proved to be too much for the Crimson to handle as Harvard mustered only one hit on its way to an 8-0 loss. But Harvard was not prepared to pack its bags without one last hurrah, and the third-seeded Boston College Eagles became the Crimson's prey.

Harvard eliminated B.C. with a sound, 11-2 thrashing one day after its disappointing showing against Oklahoma. The win moved the Crimson into the Regional semifinals where it was forced to face the Sooners once again, as Oklahoma had gone down to No. 21 and second-seeded UMass earlier in the day.