The Harvard softball team was thoroughly beaten yesterday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Massachusetts without scoring a run. Both games were ended in the fifth inning thanks to collegiate softball’s mercy rule, which mandates that a game end when one team leads by eight or more runs after the fifth.

After heinous New England weather had forced the cancellation of a pair of doubleheaders, the first against Maine and the second against Dartmouth, Harvard (5-17) entered yesterday’s games not having played since being shut out 7-0 by Boston College a week ago. UMass (21-10) was able to capitalize on the Crimson’s rustiness by scoring early and often, winning the first game 13-0 and the second 8-0.

“They were sharp,” sophomore outfielder Lauren Stefanchik said. “We always have trouble with UMass.”

“If there was something to take away from these games, I’m not really sure what it was,” junior Kara Brotemarkle added. “At least it gave us some exposure to a tougher team.”

Brotemarkle, who started the first game, saw her record fall to 2-7. Opposing her was senior Kaila Holtz, who submitted a stellar performance to lead the Minutewomen. In her three innings of work, she gave up only one hit while striking out four to pick up her 10th win of the season.

Her hitting was the real story of the day, however. Holtz made sure to provide herself with some run support, hitting a two-run double to start things off for UMass in the bottom of the first. She added another two-run double in the second as part of a 10-run Minutewoman inning. She finished the day 4-for-5 with eight RBI and a grand slam.

After being held to just two hits in the first game, the Crimson were able to bounce back and be competitive in the second, at least for the first few innings. Freshman pitcher Michele McAteer managed to keep the UMass bats silent through two frames.

“I think we came out much stronger in the second game,” Stefanchik said. “We held them scoreless for a couple of innings. We were playing really good defense.”

In the top of the third, the Crimson even looked like it was going to score. With two outs, Harvard had strung a few hits together to load the bases. But when Minutewoman freshman catcher Jamie Calahan rifled the ball to third to pick off Harvard freshman catcher Erin Halpenny, the Crimson lost its only momentum.

After surviving this scare in the top of the inning, UMass decided it was time to start scoring again. It torched McAteer for five runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a back-breaking Holtz grand slam. The Minutewomen tacked on three runs over the next two innings to end the game.

McAteer, who pitched four innings, took the loss to fall to 2-5. Minutewoman sophomore pitcher Keili Arnold won the game, improving her record to 9-4.

The Crimson take the field again this Saturday to play a doubleheader at home against Cornell. Harvard will have to quickly bounce back from yesterday’s devestating losses if they hope to be competitive.

“I sure hope [we can rebound],” Brotemarkle said. “Now we’ll come out with some fire in the Ivy games.

“Cornell is an especially big game for us, so hopefully we’ll come out strong Saturday,” Stefanchik said.