Sophomore shortstop Emily Gusse, shown above in previous action, collected two RBIs on five of seven hitting as the Harvard softball team completed a four-game sweep of Yale. The team has now won six in a row and seven of its last eight and is tied atop the North Division.

The Harvard softball team exorcised some demons in two consecutive wins over Yale on Sunday afternoon, completing a four-game weekend sweep of the Bulldogs.

The young team has struggled this season with recovering from defensive and pitching mistakes, while consistently stringing together hits in the clutch.

Not this time.

On senior day at Soldiers Field, the Crimson (16-17, 8-4 Ivy) won both games on walk-off hits—the first called after the 5th because of the mercy rule—beating Yale (8-26, 3-9), 12-3 and 5-3.

Sophomore first baseman Adrienne Hume came up big in the first game, slapping a two-run double into the right-center gap to walk-off in the fifth. After Yale tied it up in the top of the ninth during the second game, junior third baseman Kasey Lange responded with a one-out, two-run jack to end the game.

“Kasey Lange is a boss at life,” sophomore shortstop Emily Gusse said. “That’s all you need to say. Write that down.”

Though Harvard was missing freshman pitcher Morgan Groom, who sat due to illness after pitching a complete game the day before, freshman Jamie Halula and sophomore Gabrielle Ruiz combined to hold the Bulldogs to five earned runs on 12 hits and six walks.

With the wins, the Crimson extended its winning streak to six and remains tied with Dartmouth for first place in the North Division with eight conference games to play.

“In this conference, anything can happen,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “We [knew] at the beginning of the season that we were graduating a lot of good players, and we’re in the mix. At this point in the year to still have a shot is great.”

HARVARD 5, YALE 3

After scoring three runs on small-ball plays in the second, fourth and sixth innings, it looked like the Crimson would walk away with its second easy win of the day.

But Yale stuck with Harvard, and its payoff came in the top of the seventh when starting pitcher Ruiz began to struggle with her control.

Freshman left fielder Allie Souza led-off the inning with a liner above Lange’s reach at third, and advanced to second when freshman shortstop Brittany Labbadia drew a walk. Sophomore catcher Sarah Onorato made the first out of the inning, a hard-hit liner speared by Hume at first.

After Ruiz gave up a bloop single to right field, Halula—who was credited with the win—came in to relieve the sophomore and gave up a sacrifice groundball and a single, which brought the score to a tie going into the bottom of the inning.

But the Crimson would come out on top, as junior co-captain and right fielder Shelbi Olson reached on a single up the middle and stole second, setting the stage for Lange’s walk-off.