Junior Ellen Macadam had a torrid weekend at the plate, batting 5-for-8 with three RBI and two runs scored in a twinbill against Yale on Saturday. Macadam also stole home in the first game to spark the Crimson.

The finish line is in sight, and the Harvard softball team is barreling towards it.

With six games to go in the Ivy season, the Crimson (20-20, 11-3 Ivy) took over sole possession of first place in the North Division on Saturday, sweeping Yale (9-24, 4-10) at Dewitt Family Field.

Harvard easily won the first game, 6-0, behind a 16-strikeout gem from sophomore pitcher Rachel Brown. And though the Bulldogs held a 3-0 lead through six innings in the nightcap, the Crimson refused to let its rival play the spoiler, breaking out for 10 runs in the top of the seventh in a 10-3 win.

“I think that’s exactly the team we want to be headed into the Dartmouth weekend and potentially the Ivy League Championship,” Brown said. “That was our best softball, and it was really great to see that.”

HARVARD 10, YALE 3

For six innings, Yale pitcher Kayla Kuretich had the Crimson’s number.

The senior scattered four hits and two walks through the game’s first six frames, and with a run in the third and two more in the fourth, the Bulldogs had her staked to a 3-0 lead heading into the final inning.

But that’s when Harvard’s bats—which had been launching balls right at Yale’s fielders all game—finally got lucky.

“We had confidence in ourselves,” sophomore Whitney Shaw said. “We had been hitting shots...but we hadn’t been able to catch a break. The seventh inning, we caught a break finally.”

With one out in the inning, sophomore pinch hitter Mari Zumbro reached base on an error to spark the Crimson rally. Consecutive singles from sophomore Jane Alexander and junior Ellen Macadam loaded the bases, and senior Stephanie Krysiak’s hit to second base was misplayed, letting pinch runner Emily Henderson score.

Singles from co-captain Melissa Schellberg, who is also a Crimson sports editor, and Shaw made the score 4-3, and rookie Jess Ferri ripped a 2-RBI double to right center to clear the bases.

“The last inning against Yale, I just had the feeling that it was never going to stop,” Brown said.

Ferri came home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of senior Jen Francis, and a pair of walks to Henderson and Alexander loaded the bases once more.

Macadam capped the inning with a bases-clearing double, extending Harvard’s lead to 10-3 before Krysiak struck out to finally end the inning.

Brown came on in the seventh to close out the game, striking out the side after allowing a leadoff single.