Softball Falters in Marathon Contest Against BU Terriers

Someone forgot to tell the Boston University and Harvard softball teams that the Boston Marathon takes place on Monday.

The mighty Terriers (18-2) and the courageous Crimson (7-4, 0-0 Ivy) played more than two-and-a-half hours yesterday afternoon and evening before Boston University prevailed in 13 innings, 8-1.

Harvard senior Christine Carr and BU senior Shannon Downey engaged one another in a terrific pitcher's duel, silencing the potent bats of each team for 12 whole innings.

Carr allowed only five hits through 12, but the Terriers banged out seven consecutive hits in the ill-fated 13th, which brought home seven runs.

Downey allowed only six hits in the entire game while striking out 21 Harvard batters.

"Good pitching always stops good hitting," Harvard Head Coach Barry Haskell said. "Downey showed us why she was the 1992 ECAC player of the year."

The Crimson managed to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior Christine Vogt walked, Carr bunted her over to second and Vogt scored when Terrier catcher Elaine Schwager threw sophomore Ann Kennon's ground ball into right field.

The lead was short-lived, however, BU banged out its first three hits of the game, the last of which was Schwager's RBI double, to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Carr settled down and retired the next two batters with runners on second and third.

Harvard had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh, but the Crimson came up short.

Kennon led off the inning with a double deep into left-field and was moved over to third on freshman Danielle Feinberg's sacrifice.

Haskell then had junior Nicole Desharnais pinch-hit for sophomore Heidi Thompson.

The move almost worked, but Desharnais smoked a line drive right into the center-fielder's glove. The ball was hit too shallow and too hard for the runner from third to tag up and score.

"I hit the ball as hard as I could have," Desharnais said, "but someone happened to be standing there."

Downey struck out the next batter to retire the side.

The Crimson had a runner on second with one out in the eighth, and the Terriers had a batter on third with one out in the tenth, but Downey and Carr thwarted each of those rallies.

A walk and a sacrifice in the top of the thirteenth started BU's big inning. Terrier Kathy Harrison then hit a shallow fly to left with a runner on second and one out.

Senior Katic Fitta dove for the ball, but it bounced off her glove for the game winning double. The Terriers tacked on six more runs in the inning to distort the score of what had been a very close game.

"My pitches [in the 13th inning] weren't breaking like they used to," Carr said. "They had faced me so many times in the game, and they finally got their timing."

Although losing in thirteen innings is emotionally draining, Crimson players said the team wasn't too distraught after the contest. Haskell said that the loss would actually help the Crimson.

"We can take a great deal of confidence out of this game," Haskell said. "We showed we can play with just about anybody."

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NOTEBOOK: The teams were scheduled to play a double-header, but the coaches and umpires decided that it would be best not to start the second game.

"We wanted to get the second game fully completed if we were to start it," Haskell said. "We only had about 45 minutes of daylight left, so we called it off."

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Emotional Day Saturday: There will be a dedication of the new score board at Soldiers Field in memory of Becky Pocius '94 preceding Saturday's doubleheader against Pennsylvania at 1 p.m.

Pocius, a catcher who received two varsity letters and was also an enthusiastic leader on the softball team, was killed last August in a car accident. Family and friends of Pocuis and the softball team will be on hand for the ceremony.