A week ago, freshman Kasey Lange torched Holy Cross’s pitchers with three home runs in two games. Home runs are nothing new for the rookie, who ranks second in the Ivy League in the category.

There is joy in Mudville.

Unlike the Casey from Ernest Thayer’s famous poem “Casey at the Bat,” Harvard freshman Kasey Lange delivered clutch hits for the Crimson last week. In the Harvard softball team’s doubleheader against Holy Cross last Tuesday, Lange slammed three home runs over the fence and had a combined nine RBI.

Lange wasted no time in giving the Crusaders trouble. With two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the first inning, Lange boomed a homer to right field that gave the Crimson an early lead.

Her next two RBI came in the second and fourth innings.

Lange hit two singles that allowed her co-captain Ellen Macadam to score both times.

The first game of the doubleheader ended with Harvard on top, 8-1. In six innings, Lange managed to go 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, ultimately contributing to half of the Crimson’s runs.

But Game 1 was merely a teaser for Holy Cross, which was about to experience an even more deadly performance by Lange in the second game.

In her first at-bat, Lange popped out to the second baseman, but that was the last time she would allow the Crusaders to get the better of her.

Down 4-0 going into the bottom of the third inning, Harvard needed an offensive boost. After a double from junior Jane Alexander and a single to the shortstop by Macadam, Lange found herself at bat with her team losing, 4-1.

With the count at one ball and one strike, the rookie found the sweet spot of her bat again and sailed a ball over the left-field fence, sending her and Macadam around to home plate.

Still trailing by one run in the bottom of the fourth, the Crimson bats started to take action. During its rally, Harvard took over the lead, and Lange stepped up to the plate with her team up, 6-4, and two runners in scoring position. Lange then walloped a double to left field that caused both runners on base to score.

The double gave the Crimson even more confidence as it transitioned into the fifth inning. Even though Harvard had a comfortable cushion in the sixth inning, Lange did not slow down.

In her final at-bat of the day and with a runner on second, she slammed yet another home run to right-center field.

“I think [Lange’s] home runs are proof of how she goes up to each at-bat with a great mental attitude and great clarity and just attacks the ball,” junior teammate Whitney Shaw said.

Lange’s last home run helped catalyze yet another Crimson rally that put the nail in the coffin for Holy Cross, securing Harvard’s victory.