Pitching Troubles Lead to Saturday Split

PROVIDENCE, R.I—For most of its Ivy League schedule, the Harvard softball team has struggled to coordinate solid pitching with timely hitting, and Saturday was no exception.

After its resurgent offense posted nine runs in the first game, the Crimson’s typically dominant pitching unraveled in the nightcap as Harvard and Brown split a doubleheader at Erickson Athletic Complex.

The Crimson came from behind with a four-run sixth inning to take Game 1, 9-6, but the Bears responded with a breakout sixth inning of their own in the second contest, scoring seven runs with two outs and winning the game, 11-5.

“We did well staying on them—they would score, we would score, never giving up, never letting down,” said rookie first baseman Whitney Shaw. “We should have prevented that runaway inning and should have just stopped the bleeding before it got bad, but we did make a good effort at the end to try to come back.”

BROWN 11, HARVARD 5

In a slugfest that featured a combined 20 hits and 14 walks, a pitching breakdown in the sixth gave Brown an easy victory in what had been a neck-and-neck contest.

After junior Margaux Black recorded two quick outs, Bears pinch hitter Danielle Commissiong drove a double to deep center field, the first of seven straight Brown players to reach base safely.

Black would give up three straight singles, one that drove home Commissiong, before yielding to co-captain and starting shortstop Bailey Vertovez.

With little time to warm up, Vertovez walked a run home before allowing a 2-RBI single to Bears freshman Jackie Giovanniello.

Brown rookie Kate Strobel then hit a three-run bomb to straightaway center, her second home run of the day, to break the game open, 11-4.

“We just need to prevent the runaway inning, just try to hit our spots a little better,” junior pitcher Dana Roberts said.

Harvard started off the top of the seventh with three straight hits, including an RBI double from Vertovez, but it was too little, too late.

“This team has a lot of heart,” Roberts said. “Even in that last inning of the last game, we were down by seven but we never gave up. We kept getting hits, kept trying to string things together, so that’s a confidence boost.”

The Crimson got on the board in the top of the first, as Bears starting pitcher Trish Melvin struggled to find the strike zone.

With the bases loaded on two walks and a Shaw double, Melvin walked junior Melissa Schellberg, who is also a Crimson sports editor, to plate the first Harvard run.

Brown got three back in the bottom of the inning off of freshman Marika Zumbro, but the Crimson battled back to take the lead, 4-3, in the top of the third.

The Bears evened the score at four in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a passed ball, to set up the game-winning rally.

HARVARD 9, BROWN 6

Harvard opened up the series with a first-inning run, setting the tone for a stellar afternoon for the Crimson bats. And although ace Rachel Brown didn’t have her best outing, the freshman’s complete-game effort was enough to give Harvard a crucial division win.

“I thought it was really great that we came out and scored a lot of runs,” Roberts said. “We got everybody’s bats going and we had doubles all over the place, so that was really good to see.”

The Crimson took the lead for good in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, sophomore Ellen Macadam ripped a double to left-center, knocking in junior Jennifer Francis and Vertovez.

Shaw then reached on a fielder’s choice, but an error by the Brown third baseman allowed Macadam and sophomore Emily Henderson to come home, making the score 8-5.

“We call it being a spark in the lineup—just making sure to get on base no matter how you do it,” Shaw said. “Getting a walk, getting a hit, getting anything, just kind of keeping constant pressure on them so they’re never able to just lie back and relax.”

After Brown dominated the first two innings, striking out four, the Bears took the lead with a three-run third.

Harvard co-captain Hayley Bock hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to tie the score, but the Bears got two back in the bottom of the inning.

The Crimson’s ace settled down, allowing just one run through the last three innings on a seventh-inning Strobel solo shot and letting the Harvard offense take over.

With the victory, Brown moves to 13-5 on the season, and her 10 strikeouts place her second on the Crimson single-season list, just 13 behind Tasha Cupp ’98 for the all-time record.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.