“Perfect” is the word that best describes the weekend of the Harvard women’s softball team (26-13, 10-2 Ivy), which devastated Brown (10-16-1, 5-7 Ivy), 8-0, 9-0, 7-3, and 11-1, respectively, in four games on Saturday and Sunday.
“Everything came together this weekend,” sophomore Stephanie Regan said. “Our pitchers were awesome; our offense was awesome ... it’s Harvard softball the way we want to play it.”
HARVARD 11, BROWN 1
In the final game of the weekend, it took four innings for Harvard to get going—but once the bats began connecting, they never stopped.
Regan got the ball rolling, slamming a hit to left field for a single, and she was followed by freshman Kasey Lange, who sent her to third base off of a double.
Once Regan was in scoring position, junior Whitney Shaw sealed the deal with an RBI bunt, bringing Regan in and gaining first base. Immediately after, Lange and Shaw were brought home off of a homer from another freshman, Allison Scott.
“It took us a while to put the hits together and get runners into position, but once we did, we didn’t slow down,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “[The players] put everything they could into the game ... and really came to play.”
The Bears struck back in the bottom of the fourth, with Kat Strobel logging a single home run to put her team on the board. The homer would be the only tally of the game for Brown, which ended the weekend with a meager four runs, compared to the Crimson’s total of 35.
Harvard went on to score seven more runs in the game, with Scott recording her second home run of the game and Shaw also drilling a solo home run in the top of the sixth and a two-run homer in the top of the seventh. Freshman Laura Ricciardone recorded the win.
HARVARD 7, BROWN 3
In the most competitive game of the series, the Crimson came off of a strong Saturday showing to face both the exhaustion of a doubleheader and the determination of the resilient Bears.
“Game three was hard,” Allard said. “We were fatigued after playing so hard yesterday ... but we finally came together.”
Co-captain Ellen Macadam started Harvard off in the top of the third inning, capitalizing on a bunt to take first base. She then stole second and was driven to third off a sacrifice bunt by Regan.
But Lange ultimately brought Macadam home off of a fly-out to center field. Regan, Macadam, and Lange collaborated again in the top of the fifth to garner two more runs for the Crimson, which had allowed a Brown home run in the previous inning.
After Macadam singled to reach first base, with teammate freshman Shelbi Olson in scoring position at third, Regan again offered a sacrifice RBI bunt that drove Olson home and Macadam to second. Lange then followed with a single up the middle to bring in Macadam.
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Softball Ends Weekend With Sweep of PennAfter shutting out Columbia in Friday’s doubleheader, the Harvard softball team kept the momentum going on Saturday, sweeping its two games against Penn, 4-3 and 10-1. After taking the first game by only one run, the Crimson (19-9, 7-1 Ivy) routed the Quakers (20-13, 5-3 Ivy) in five innings at home.