“I think obviously we had some good breaks,” Panariello said. “They had some breakdowns that we really capitalized on. This year is all about passing the bat to the next girl and knowing that she can get it done as much as you.”
The Crimson had the opportunity to secure the victory in the sixth because of its come-from-behind effort in the bottom of the third. With one run on the board, Rich stung the ball into the left-center gap. The ball rolled all the way to the wall, and two runs crossed home to cut the Big Red’s lead to one. Junior right fielder Maddy Kaplan drove in Rich with a ground-ball double past Cornell’s third baseman. In total, Harvard racked up five runs on three hits in the inning.
Duncan tossed seven innings, striking out five and walking none.
Rich notched three hits in four at bats, including two triples and three runs batted in.
Harvard continued to run wild on the Big Red’s catchers. This time around, sophomore center fielder Kaitlyn Schiffhauer swiped two bags, and Panariello added one.
HARVARD 8, CORNELL 3
Rebounding from its 1-3 showing a week ago, the Crimson recorded a convincing 8-3 victory over Cornell in the weekend opener.
“It was nice for us to bounce back yesterday against Cornell,” Allard said. “I thought we had a lot of confidence at the plate and really attacked certain pitches well, and our pitchers kept us in the game.”
After scoring just 12 runs in four games against Penn and Columbia, Harvard erupted for eight runs on 14 hits against the Big Red. Kaplan went four-for-five with a run scored and an RBI.
The Crimson got on the board first in the bottom of the opening frame with two runs. Harvard was aided by some errant pitching from Cornell’s starter Maddie Orcutt, who walked three and hit one batter in the inning.
The Crimson opened up the floodgates in the second inning, effectively putting the game out of reach with a four-run outburst.
With runners on first and third, Shively tripled to right field to clear the bases. Lockhart followed Shively with a shot to left, good for two bases and an RBI. Later in the inning, junior left fielder Dallas Hogan knocked in Lockhart with a single back up the middle.
Harvard’s offensive outburst was not entirely necessary, however, as senior hurler Taylor Cabe cruised to her third win of the season.
Cabe allowed two runs over six innings, and freshman Olivia Giaquinto came on in the ninth to finish off the Big Red.
The Crimson was active on the basepaths in this contest. Rich stole her seventh bag of the year, and Panariello swiped two more. Rich also contributed two hits, scored two runs, and drew a base on balls.
—Staff writer Jack Stockless can be reached at jack.stockless@thecrimson.com.