“The hitters have been doing a fantastic job,” Brown said. “It makes it a lot easier. From a pitcher’s perspective, I feel a lot more confident knowing I don’t have to be perfect.”

Not that Brown has been that far off. The sophomore has thrown 226 strikeouts and boasts a 1.25 ERA.

And she doesn’t look to be slowing down.

“We conditioned a lot in the fall,” Brown said. “We’re not tired at the end of the season. Last year, I know I got tired. We’re still going strong.”

At full strength, the sophomore could be trouble for the Big Red batters, especially given the added motivation of redeeming a rare weekend of struggles.

“She’ll definitely be able to hold the Cornell hitters,” Black said.

The Big Red will also hit Niemand-Robison field with a fair amount of momentum, though it hasn’t had the same late season dominance as Harvard.

A 4-2 loss to Princeton on Sunday ended the Crimson’s six-game conference win streak, though the team picked up plenty of steam the previous weekend with a sweep of Columbia, including a five-inning 18-5 win.

In its toughest game of the weekend, Harvard was still able to come away with a close 6-5 victory in extra innings.

“We gained a lot of confidence,” Black said. “The last game was a battle and we came out on top. It was just a really fun exciting game, a great game to end our regular season on.”

The ILCS, then, might be coming at just the right time.

“I think momentum’s on our side,” Allard said.

The boost couldn’t come at a better time for the seniors on the team: co-captain Melissa Schellberg—a Crimson sports editor—Black, Jennifer Francis, Stephanie Krysiak—a Crimson sports editor—Jessica Pledger, and Dana Roberts.

After capturing the title their freshman year, the squad fell off the mark the following season before taking the North Division last year.

Taking two games from the Big Red would complete the seniors’ climb back the top of the Ivy League, where they began their careers three years ago.

“All the underclassmen have the sense that this is our year to win it for the seniors,” Brown said.

“They’ve been a tremendous class,” Allard said.

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.