Batswomen Sweep Big Red, 18-5 and 4-0

The way the Harvard softball team looked in Saturday's doubleheader against Cornell--pulling off 18-5 and 4-0 laughers--you would have thought the Crimson was in another league altogether.

And as a matter of fact, Harvard and Cornell are in different leagues.

Although both are Ivy schools, only the Crimson is an Ivy League squad. The Big Red, a club team, is not officially part of the league--and was not much of a match for Harvard, now 11-4 on the season.

"It's really disappointing from our point of view," Harvard Coach John Wentzell said. "Saturdays are our key dates. But it worked out fine for us, all our kids got to play."

Wentzell made full use of his roster, as all 18 of the batswomen saw action in the twinbill. Substitutions began as early as the third inning of the opener, with the Cantabs sitting on an early 6-0 lead.

"The nice thing about today was the chance to get everyone in," Wentzell said. "It's tough, with 18 players, to find playing time for everybody."

Saturday, however, everybody got an opportunity to play--and to show that even the Crimson bench could outplay Cornell.

With the four-hit pitching of Janet Dickerman (4-2) in the first game, and the one-hit pitching of Gerri Rubin 7-2 in the nightcap, Harvard had the usual outstanding hurling that has paced the squad all year.

Meanwhile, the Crimson batters put on a show of their own, collecting a two-game total of 17 hits.

The batting spree brought the club's season hit total into triple figures, to 113. Last year, in 21 games, Harvard had 142 hits.

Leading Harvard at the plate were Cari Lyn Beck (with four hits and three RBI), Mary Paul (three hits, two RBI), and Mary Baldauf, Gia Barresi, Trisha Brown, Sharon Hayes and Jane McHugh with two hit apiece.

Baldauf, the team's leading batter with a 475 batting average, delivered the big blows with roundtrippers in both contests.

"What can you say about Mary Baldauf," Wentzell said. "She sparked us in the first game with a home run, and in the second with another home run." The freshman now has three homers on the year.

In the opener, Harvard jumped out in front with four runs in the bottom of the first. The Big Red helped out, with five errors and a pair of walks.

The Crimson picked up two more in the second frame, five in the fourth, and seven in the fifth. Game totals: 12 Crimson hits, 12 Cornell errors and six Crimson walks.

After that lambasting, the shellshocked Big Red had to take the field again--with the same nine players who had made the road trip and played in the first game.

The nightcap was a showcase for the pitching skills of Rubin, who allowed the lone hit while striking out five and walking two.

"Gerri was super," Wentzell said of his All-Ivy hurler. "She over-powered them."

The batswomen, who have now won four straight, travel to Bentley tomorrow for a 3:30 start. The Crimson's Ivy record holds at 2-2, after last weekend's sweeps of Penn and by Princeton.