But last season’s Pitcher of the Year led Harvard safely out of the inning by striking out the next two hitters. Brown went on to fan a total of 14 batters in her seven innings pitched, bringing her career strikeout count to 157, the highest in the Ancient Eight.

Brown kept the momentum going in the second and third innings, and both squads were held scoreless until the top of the fourth, when sophomore third baseman Kasey Lange—the most recent Ivy League Player of the Week—ripped a two-run homer.

The Rams responded with a run in the bottom of the inning to decrease their deficit to a single run and make the score 2-1.

The Crimson regained a two-run lead in the fifth inning as Hume stole home on a wild pitch.

But Rhode Island continued to battle, bringing in an additional run that same inning to once again make it a one-run game, 3-2.

Harvard answered at the top of the sixth inning with a three-run rally, extending its advantage to four runs.

Lange was the first on base, advancing on a walk. Freshman Andrea Del Conte came in to pinch run for Lange and advanced to second on a fielding error. Shortly after, sophomore Allison Scott singled to center field to bring Del Conte home.

Freshman second baseman Katherine Lantz followed with a two-run homer to plate the final runs of the inning.

The Rams made an effort to spark up a comeback in the sixth and seventh innings but were unsuccessful, and the host team fell to the Crimson, 6-2.

“Overall I think the team played well today, but I definitely think we saw areas of our game that could be improved,” Lantz said. “The team is looking forward to working out these kinks this week at practice in order to come out on top against Yale this weekend.”

—Staff writer Marlee Melendy can be reached at melendy@college.harvard.edu.