Sophomore Julia Moore, shown here in earlier action, saved her most impressive pitching performance for her last appearance of the regular season, giving up just one run on five hits in a complete-game win at Dartmouth.

As high-school seniors finish up their springs, the Harvard softball team found itself in a similar situation—like these 12th-graders, the team showed up, but the outcome didn’t matter too much.

After clinching a playoff berth on Saturday at home against Dartmouth (14-27, 11-9 Ivy), the Crimson (25-20, 17-3) played two contests in Hanover yesterday in games that had little consequence for either team.

In the first game, the Crimson took the lead in the third inning and never looked back, winning by the score of 7-1.

The nightcap looked to be just the opposite—after falling behind early, Harvard couldn’t plate more than a run for most of the game. But following a number of late-game lead changes, the team held on for the win, 6-5, and completed the doubleheader and weekend sweeps.

“It was a great day,” Crimson coach Jenny Allard said. “We came out strong, we came out with good energy, we came out to build on how we were playing at the end of the year.”

HARVARD 6, DARTMOUTH 5 (8 innings)

For the first six innings, the game was stable. The Big Green jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, and Harvard scored only one run through the sixth.

But from the seventh onward, bats for both teams came alive.

After struggling at the plate for most of the game, the Crimson put four on the board in the top of the seventh to take what looked to be a game-deciding lead change. Sophomore Whitney Shaw hit a two-out two-run home run to give Harvard its first lead of the day.

“I think their pitcher did a good job of spotting her pitches, and we weren’t making some good decisions,” Allard said. “But once we settled in and adjusted to her, we started to get some hits.”

But Dartmouth, whose bats had been equally quiet since a productive first frame, pushed two across the plate in the bottom half on a single and an error from co-captain and pitcher Margaux Black to force the game into extra innings. Both runs came with two outs.

In the first extra inning, the Crimson added another run to take a 6-5 lead. After blowing the save in the seventh, Black held on in her second chance, and Harvard managed to maintain its second lead of the game for the win.

Sophomore Rachel Brown—the staff’s No. 1 starter—settled down after giving up three runs in the first. She pitched three scoreless innings after a rough start before Black came in for the fifth.

“It’s kind of tough when you’re throwing no-hitters all the time and usually striking out batters,” Black said. “[Brown] had a tough first inning, but she really settled in and found her pitches.”

HARVARD 7, DARTMOUTH 1