"It's very disappointing--we let it get away,"Teller said. "A few more timely hits and a coupleof balls fall in, and the game would have been atotally different story. We played hard, so it'shard to go back and second guess ourselves."
Freshman Nicole Zitarelli went the distance andpicked up the win for Cornell. A strong candidatefor Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Zitarelli gaveup eight hits and struck out five in eightinnings.
Harvard 2, Cornell O
Harvard forced the decisive second game on thestrength of Thoke's arm. Thoke pitched an absolutegem in the opener, surrendering just two hits andstriking out seven in a complete game victory. Shetook a no-hitter into the seventh.
"[Thoke] was on," Allard said. "She had tons ofenergy, she threw a very efficient game, and theydidn't hit her at all."
Harvard scored the only run it needed in thefirst inning. LaSovage led off with a walk andthen stole second. She scored when Cornell pitcherJulie Westbrock threw wildly to first on a balloff the bat of freshman Lisa Watanabe.
The Crimson padded that lead in the third, whenLaSovage crossed the plate again. She led off theinning with a single to left, advanced to secondon a sacrifice bunt by Watanabe and scored on adouble to right center by Abeles.
"I think we thought we could and should havegotten more runs," Abeles said. "We definitelyexpected to get more than three runs on the day."
Meanwhile, the Big Red had no answer for Thoke.Only sophomore Charlotte Brombach and freshmanKristen Hricenak touched Thoke, and both of thosehits came too late for Cornell.
Westbrock (16-5) took the loss for Cornell. Shegave up five hits, struck out three and walkedthree in six innings of work.
Abeles went 2-for-2 with an RBI. LaSovage had a1-for-2 performance and scored twice.