Instead the majority of the game was a pitcher's duel. Thoke and B.C.'s Gretchen Thompson combined to scatter 11 hits and give up only three earned runs. The Eagles, however, struck first and struck early.

B.C. wasted no time jumping out in front. With a runner on base in the top of the first, Vicari deposited a Thoke offering over the fence, and the Eagles led 2-0.

But Harvard cut that lead in half in the bottom of the second. Koppel led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by McKendry and took third on junior Ghia Godfree's bouncer back to the mound.

Junior centerfielder Jessie Amberg drove Koppel home with a single up the middle to make the score 2-1. That is how it remained until the bottom of the seventh when a pair of B.C. mistakes opened the door for Harvard's comeback.

With one out and McKendry on first, Godfree deadened a beautiful bunt in front of the plate. B.C. catcher Jennifer Perrotta picked up the ball and threw down to secondbaseman Summer Jarratt covering first, but the throw pulled Jarratt off the bag and Godfree was safe.

Amberg followed with a grounder to second. What should have been a bread-and-butter play for Jarratt turned into an adventure as she booted the ball toward the first-base line. By the time Jarratt recovered the ball, McKendry had motored around third and scored the tying run.

"Successful teams will take advantage of mistakes," Teller said. "We definitely took advantage of B.C.'s mistakes."