Batswomen Drop Pair to Terriers

The Boston University softball team did a little spring cleaning yesterday at Soldiers Field.

They even brought their own cleaning equipment--mops, for mopping up the Crimson's patience; sponges, for soaking their opponent's energy and, of course, a broom--to sweep Harvard away in a well-played double-header.

The Crimson took the Terriers to extra innings in the first game but came up short, losing 4-3. In the second game, Harvard just couldn't produce the right hits at the right times and fell once again to a jubilant B.U. team, 4-1.

Game one proved to be the most frustrating of the series for the Crimson.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Harvard pulled together. The Crimson's Beth Reilly doubled in a run to take the game to extra innings.

Continuing the frustration for both teams, the eighth and ninth innings went on scoreless.

In the top of the tenth, B.U. broke the deadlock, bringing in its runner on third base with a squeeze bunt.

"We didn't play our bunt defense as well as we usually do," Co-Captain Nancy Prior said.

"We played reasonably well," Crimson Head Coach Barry Haskell said, "but we didn't execute our bunt defense."

Harvard failed to score a runner from third in the bottom of the ninth.

"We had a runner on third and we just weren't able to get her in," Haskell said. "We didn't hit the ball particularly well."

Despite the score, freshman pitcher Julie Fromholz turned in another stellar performance. Pitching all ten innings, Fromholz struck out five B.U. batters, gave up only four hits and had no walks.

"[Fromholz] did an outstanding job," Haskell said. "She had a really good performance."

The bad got even worse in the second game--the Crimson offense just could not get going.

After scoring its only run of the game, tying the score, 1-1, in the top of the fifth, the game took a Terrier turn.

Co-Captain Lora Rowning, playing in her second game after a six-week layoff due to a thumb injury, relieved Lee Polikoff on the mound with a B.U. runner on third base. The Terriers pulled ahead, 2-1, on a suicide squeeze.

Two plays later, with runners on first and third base, Rowning threw a wild pitch, allowing another run to score. The next B.U. hitter singled up the middle, upping the Terrier advantage to 4-1.

In the top of the seventh, Harvard stopped B.U.'s effort to drive up the score with three straight outs. Unfortunately for the Crimson, B.U. returned the favor by turning in a strong infield performance and ending Harvard hopes for an upset after only three batters.

"The second game just followed the first," Rowning said. "We made a couple of errors and they scored off of them."

Harvard's double loss to B.U. wasn't completely indicative of their play.

"The pitches were hittable. We left bases loaded and we were hitting the ball," Prior said. "We just weren't getting the runs. We didn't play awfully, but we didn't play up to our potential either."

"We just had an off day," Rowning said. "People weren't making connections on their hits."

The Crimson will be devoting more time to this weakness as the season comes to a close.

"We'll work on hitting and look to do things more aggressively with the bat," Haskell said.

This weekend Harvard faces Yale and Cornell and then battles Brown on Tuesday.

"If we want to beat these teams, we'll have to play up to our potential," Prior said. "With intensity and emotion, we'll be up for that."