Following a hot start to its 2017 season, the Harvard women’s softball team (8-9) faltered in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Rainbow Wahine Classic, losing six of its seven contests.

The Crimson dropped three of its games by five, seven, and eight runs, but the other three defeats were all one-run margins. Connecticut (9-14) delivered the final blow to Harvard in the ultimate game of the tournament, rallying to tie the game in the top of the seventh and tacking on a run in the eighth to pick up an extra innings victory.

The Crimson’s lone win in the Classic was a 7-3 triumph over Purdue (10-21). Sophomore Sarah Smith got the start on the mound and shut down the Boilermakers over the first four innings. Co-captain Giana Panariello hit her first homerun of the season, and junior outfielder Dallas Hogan scored three times to fuel Harvard’s offense.

All told, Harvard played 12 games in nine days between the Long Beach State Tournament and the Rainbow Wahine Classic.

“Playing a 12 game schedule within a week long period requires a great deal of grit out of a team, but that's why we do it, in order to prepare for the competition to come,” senior righthander Taylor Cabe said. “Moving forward into the rest of our season, we're excited to act upon the grit and experience we gained over break to make a strong run in the Ivy League.”

CONNECTICUT 5, HARVARD 4

Out of the Crimson’s six losses at the Rainbow Wahine Classic, this defeat was perhaps the most heartbreaking. On the heels of a 10-2 drubbing by Hawaii, Harvard looked to rebound and close out the tournament with a win.

A win appeared likely after the Crimson took a lead for the first time in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Chanel Varney pinch ran for senior designated hitter Catherine Callaway, and she advanced to third base on a sac bunt and a wild pitch. Sophomore shortstop Rhianna Rich came up in the clutch with an RBI single, and Harvard headed to the final inning with a one-run lead in hand.

However, the Huskies rebounded immediately and plated a run on a Carissa Brizzi single to right field. The Crimson failed to score in the last half of the seventh, and Harvard found itself in its first extra innings contest of the season.

The Crimson’s hopes were not alive for long, as Connecticut efficiently dispatched of Harvard in one frame. A sacrifice fly plated sophomore Ally Hernandez, and sophomore righthander Jill Stockley finished off Harvard in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win.

“I’ll put it in the words of our coach, that’s just about timely hitting,” Leslie said. “If we would have had three more timely hits in those [one-run] games they could have gone either way. While we lost six of our games in Hawaii, we competed with all of these teams, and on any given day we could have beaten them.”

Rich went three-for-four with an RBI and a run scored.

Following the close defeat in the tournament’s final game, Crimson softball looked at its grueling spring break as a positive for the road ahead.

“The goal of our spring break series every year is to come back battle-tested and prepared for Ivy League play,” Cabe said. “We certainly accomplished that goal in California and Hawaii this year playing against excellent competition.”

HAWAII 10, HARVARD 2 (5 inn.)