Batswomen Do Split

Which is the real Harvard softball team?

Is it the squad that was trounced, 3-0 and 14-3, by the Princeton Tigers in its Ivy League opener Saturday afternoon at Soldiers Field?

Or is it the team that shut down the Penn Quakers, 11-0 and 9-0, at the same site yesterday?

Harvard Coach John Wentzell is betting on the latter.

"This is more like the Harvard team we expect to see on the field," Wentzell said after the Penn games. "Pitching was superb, and the hitting was vastly different."

Sophomore Lora Rowning and freshman Lee Polikoff threw a pair of two-hit shutouts against the Quakers, with Rowning tossing a mere 59 pitches in her complete game performance.

"The pitchers were both really hot," Co-Captain Lisa Rowning said.

Polikoff, the team's lone freshman, turned her first collegiate start into a shutout. "Lee is a developing story," Wentzell said. "She has a lot of poise and composure."

Stu-Penn-dous

In the first game, Co-Captain Gia Barresi went 3-for-4 from the plate, smashing two doubles and a single for two RBI. The Crimson collected 12 hits, with junior Mary Baldauf and sophomore Liz Crowley each recording triples.

Harvard (3-2 overall, 2-2 Ivies) opened up a five-run lead in the first two innings, and the Quakers never threatened.

The Crimson reeled off four hits in the first inning of game two to take a 6-0 advantage. Baldauf led off the stanza with a double to left field, and junior Sharon Hayes and sophomore Nancy Prior followed with triples to drive in three of Harvard's runs.

"At the very start we got it going," Lisa Rowning said, "and we just kept on moving."

Tiger Twin Killing

Harvard never got off its feet Saturday against Princeton. The Tigers whitewashed a Crimson team plagued with hitting woes.

"You're not going to beat Princeton with only five hits," Wentzell said. Harvard's lone hit in the first game came from Prior, while the Tigers--led by Kristy Schmidt's perfect 3-for-3--cracked 10 hits.

"We dropped balls, we made had throws," Wentzell said. "We've made those plays in the past and fully expect to make them now."

The one bright spot amidst the shutout was a strong performance by Lora Rowning on the mound. "Rowning played super," Wentzell said. "To hold [Princeton] to a couple of runs was excellent."

Pitching in the second game was more of a problem. Lora Rowning, Janet Dickerman and Polikoff all saw time on the mound, but none was able to close down the Tiger machine.

Trailing 3-2 heading into the fifth inning, Princeton smashed 11 hits over the final three stanzas to boost its run total to 14. Junior pitcher Angela Tucci, meanwhile, faced the minimum nine batters over that stretch.

"We really had trouble with their pitcher," Wentzell said. "Tucci is absolutely outstanding."

"The problems kind of mushroomed," he added. "They put pressure on our defense and we cracked."

THE NOTEBOOK: Polikoff is now 2-0. She picked up her first victory in relief last week against Smith...Dickerman took the loss in Saturday's second game...Lisa Rowning had five hits over the weekend...The Crimson next sees action Thursday afternoon when it hosts Boston College in a twin-bill at Soldiers Field.