At the beginning of her sophomore season, it looked as though Goldberg’s work might not have paid off, after she went 0-for-3 in the Crimson’s opener against Cleveland State. She finally got on base in Harvard’s fifth game, following it up with her first home run of the season five days later.

But Goldberg still was not confident as she entered another brief hitting drought. After some rough games, she finally felt herself getting into the swing of it.

“Halfway through our season was when everything started to come together,” she said. “I got confidence in my swing, hands, weight transfer, and it all started to work,” she says.

It was during this mid-season stretch that Goldberg came alive, stringing together some standout performances in Ivy League games.

At Yale, she went 3-for-4, coming up with big hits. Batting righty, she drove in the winning run in the first game and scored the game-tying run that allowed the team to go ahead in the second.

Against rival Dartmouth, she was 5-for-6, recording four RBI, a double, triple and a homerun in the two games.

This tremendous success helped her finish in the top 20 in batting in the Ivy League with a .302 average. She was second on the team with a .570 slugging percentage and finished the season on a seven-game hitting streak.

These impressive credentials made her a clear Second Team All-Ivy selection and validated the decision to retool her swing.

The offensive numbers and statistics bring attention, but Goldberg was vital to the Crimson before she discovered her power hitting capabilities.

“I pride myself more on my defensive ability,” she says. “If the opponent doesn’t score, they can’t win. You have a lot of control over it. You make the plays, and then you get up to bat.”Junior tri-captain and pitcher Kara Brotemarkle agrees.

“Rachel is the anchor of our defense,” she says.

With a rocket arm and impressive range, Goldberg often makes difficult plays seem routine.

This season, Goldberg carries with her some off-field roles. With only one senior on the roster (tri-captain Tiffany Whitton), a rotating infield from some off-season shuffling and a slew of underclassmen, Goldberg recognizes her increased responsibility to help the young team and expects a lot of herself.

To reflect her more mature approach to the sport, Goldberg has broken down the game into its basic components and will try to improve off-field practice to translate into game-time execution.

“It’s a team-wide goal to execute consistently,” she says. “If there’s a runner on third, I need to get them in. If there’s a runner on first, I need to bump them over.”