Crimson Routs IOP, Salient in Softball

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Despite significant changes to the lineup and pitching staff from last year’s championship squad, the Harvard Crimson softball team was in mid-season form this weekend as it demolished the Institute of Politics (IOP) and the Harvard Salient by identical 23-2 margins.

With the weekend victories, the Crimson (2-0) keeps alive the longest winning streak in modern amateur sports history, having gone undefeated in its 129 years of competition.

Against the IOP on Saturday, the Crimson was led at the plate by freshman slugger Nick Josefowitz, who belted a three-run home run, and junior Nicole Meunier, whose 3-for-4, 5 RBI outing left her a dinger short of the cycle.

“I was trying to smash around the googly for a bit,” said the Englishman Josefowitz, aludding to his native game of cricket. “The 23-2 score was pretty high, but that’s nothing compared to the 523-200 scores you normally have back across the pond.”

The IOP (0-1) was led valiantly by its current president and starting pitcher Clarke Tucker. With an assortment of wicked pitches, including his Arkansas twister, and sterling, Gold Glove caliber defensive play, Tucker was able to hold the IOP in the game until the third inning, when the floodgates opened for the resilient Crimson squad.

Against the Salient (1-1, 1-0 G.O.P), Crimson compers from the Quad added some pop to a lineup of veterans including sports co-chair Brian Fallon, junior Dan Fernandez and sophomore Ross Macdonald. The compers collectively drove in eight runs, while Fernandez plated three more on a two-out, two-run homer and an two-out, RBI double.

The Salient was nearly blanked by righthanded flamethrower Alex Sherman. After taking a 23-0 lead into the eighth inning, Sherman lost his bid for a shutout when senior Ross Douthat hit a two-run shot to (you guessed it) right field.

Behind teancious team defense, Sherman shut the door and tossed a perfect ninth for his second consecutive complete game victory.

“I was really proud of the effort we showed this weekend, both on offense and defense,” Fernandez said. “Behind Sherman’s solid pitching and our strong lineup, I didn’t think our opponents stood a chance.”

The Crimson will seek to keep its perfect record intact next weekend against the Independent, Harvard’s weekly “news” magazine. The time and location of next weekend’s game is currently unknown, as Indy editors have had difficulty in confirming much of anything lately.