Softball Sweeps Up Crusaders

The ball finally bounced the right way for the Harvard softball team yesterday afternoon against Holy Cross.

The Crimson broke a seven game losing streak by beating Holy Cross in both games of a double-header, 6-4 and 14-4, thereby improving its overall record to 8-9.

These games were played in the wake of a disappointing weekend in which the Crimson dropped two games a piece to both Princeton and Pennsylvania.

The problem?...In a word, hitting.

Harvard mustered only two runs in the four games against its Ivy League foes.

`Confidence Was Low'

"Our confidence was very low this weekend," senior Co-Captain Julie Fromholz said. "We simply didn't have the right attitude to win, and our bats were silenced."

Fromholz said that this was especially a problem in the losses to Penn, a team many feel Harvard could have beaten.

The two wins to Holy Cross, however, served to reenergize the Crimson.

"We were really down after this weekend but now we're totally uplifted," freshman firstbaser Liz Walker said. "We were able to relax and have fun, and now we're definitely back on track."

Hitting was obviously not a problem yesterday, as Harvard outscored Holy Cross by twelve runs. Led by junior Nancy Johnson (four hits), sophomore Amy Belisle (two home runs) and Walker (one home run), Harvard is officially out of its slump and is looking forward to its upcoming games.

`Hit Well'

"The whole team hit well," Johnson said. "We all felt a lot looser than we did this weekend, and our hitting reflects that."

The team plays its home opener against Bryant College this Thursday at 3:30 at Soldiers Field. "Bryant traditionally has good softball," Johnson said, "We're very confident going into this game, and we're looking forward to the challenge."