“We hung in there,” Allard said. “There was a feeling in the dugout. Confidence never swayed and we knew we would fight back and get them.”
Junior third baseman Erin Halpenny pounded a double down the left-field line to plate senior Beth Sabin—who had reached on a double of her own—and sophomore Lauren Brown. Brown had to fashion a nifty hook slide to evade the tag at the plate.
Center fielder Kerry Flaherty then drove in Halpenny with a single to even the contest.
Sophomore Becky Voaklander came out of the bullpen to provide crucial relief work down the stretch, holding the Rams to one hit and no runs over three innings.
“She has been a great closer for us,” Allard said. “Becky’s someone we have a lot of confidence in to come in and shut down a team.”
The Crimson took an early 1-0 lead on a manufactured run in the first. Stefanchik—who went 3-for-4 for the game and 4-for-6 on the afternoon—led off with a single and moved station to station on a stolen base, sacrifice, and an error.
HARVARD 4, RHODE ISLAND 1
Freshman hurler Shelly Madick tossed a complete-game five-hitter and the bats ignited during a three-run fourth inning to give the Crimson a crisp 4-1 win in the opening game of the afternoon twinbill.
Madick rebounded from a shaky first inning and only surrendered one hit over the final six frames, retiring 19 of 21 in the process. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of her performance, however, was Madick’s 12 strikeouts, far surpassing her previous season total of nine.
Madick persevered after allowing hits to four of the game’s first five batters and digging Harvard an early one-run hole. She was bailed out in part by Rhode Island’s sloppy base-running when the Crimson nabbed a runner making too wide a turn at third base and couldn’t get back to the bag in time.
“She was great,” Allard said of Madick. “She settled down after the first inning. She got stronger and more effective and built momentum as the game went on.”
Harvard tied the score on an RBI double by Dell’Aria in the third and surged ahead with a three-spot in the fourth.
The big blow came off the bat off freshman Danielle Kerper, pinch-hitting for Stefanchik in the leadoff spot. She drove a double into the gap in left-center, scoring junior Pilar Adams and Brown.
Sophomore Julia Kidder followed that with a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Flaherty and seal the eventual winning margin.
The Crimson will welcome Brown and Yale to Soldiers Field this weekend for its Ivy openers.
—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.