Brotemarkle pitched a shutout for six innings—giving up only four hits—and exited the game with a 7-0 cushion. Freshman pitcher Becky Voaklander made her first appearance for the Crimson in the seventh inning, allowing two runs. “It’s really hard the first time you come out in a collegiate start, especially because we were playing good teams,” Brotemarkle said of Voaklander’s debut.
“It gives us a great look into the future of how talented she is and how much she’s going to help the team,” said Williamson.
Fritsch went 2-for-2 with a single and a double, driving in one run. Williamson and junior left fielder Lauren Stefanchik each batted 2-for-3 in the outing.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 2, HARVARD 0
The Crimson opened the weekend and its season with a shutout by host and eventual tournament champion Southern Illinois (9-2). Harvard faced Saluki freshman Cassidy Scoggins, who brought an ERA of 0.00 after two games to the mound. The Crimson managed just three hits off Scoggins, who extended her scoreless streak to 16 innings.
“We were hitting a lot of hits right at people,” Williamson said. “They weren’t jumping in between. Had two or three balls dropped in holes, we would have been in that game far more than 0-2.”
The second inning held all the action, with Harvard’s only real scoring threat coming when Dell’Aria led off with a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop Rachel Goldberg. Freshman Julia Kidder, hitting for center fielder Kerry Flaherty, walked to put runners on first and third for Harvard with two outs. But the runners wouldn’t move as senior Monica Montijo struck out looking, ending the attack.
In the bottom of the inning, Kelly Creek put Southern Illinois up with a solo home run with two outs. Lauren Roney tacked on a security run with an RBI single before getting caught stealing to second on a throw from Dell’Aria behind the plate.
McAteer took the loss, allowing four hits and two runs in the first two innings. Bettinelli came in for the final four innings, striking out as many. She also allowed three walks and three hits.
—Staff writer Carrie H. Petri can be reached at cpetri@fas.harvard.edu.