Big Green Stands In Way of Ivy Title

Some teams simply thrive in the clutch, and the Harvard softball squad is one of them.

Starting with a walkoff win in the first game of the season, the Crimson has made a habit of delivering thrilling late-inning victories.

And heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Harvard (25-14, 10-6 Ivy) is exactly where it wants to be—in a close battle with time running out.

Its bats are hot, its pitching is dominant, and in this weekend’s home-and-home series with division leader Dartmouth (20-18, 11-5 Ivy), the Crimson’s got a chance to clinch its third consecutive Ivy League North title on Soldiers Field.

“I think we kind of make the joke that our style is to win it at the end,” freshman pitcher Rachel Brown said. “This team really shows a lot of heart, and we’re all really expecting to pull through in the end. Knowing that we need to win is going to really help us out.”

The Crimson needs to win three of four in this weekend’s series to win the title—and the spot in the Ivy League Championship Series that comes along with it.

“Our goal is to win four, we know we have to take three, but the faster we get those wins in, the better,” co-captain Hayley Bock said. “We’re going to try to beat them no matter what field we’re on.”

Harvard is coming off an impressive weekend at Brown, where the offense broke out of a persistent slump in a big way, scoring 37 runs as the Crimson took three of four from the Bears.

Co-captain Bailey Vertovez led the offensive resurgence, batting an incredible .692 last week with a .765 on-base percentage, six runs scored, six RBI and four doubles en route to being honored as the Ivy League Player of the Week.

But she wasn’t alone. Every starter had at least one hit, with the team combining for 43 on the weekend.

“We’ve just been focusing on having quality at-bats at the plate, keeping our defense solid,” Bock said. “Our offense has really picked up—scoring 23 runs in a day is indicative of the kind of hitting we’re capable of, and we’re just going to keep that going.”

Harvard’s bats have helped take the pressure off of its pitching staff, which currently ranks second among Ivies with a 2.56 team ERA.

“It’s such a huge help,” Brown said. “I think a lot of pitchers will agree that you pitch differently when you have a lead, because you know the other team might be down, so you want to do your best to keep them down. You go straight after their hitters.”

Brown has been the anchor of the staff throughout her rookie season, as she ranks second in the Ancient Eight with a 1.37 ERA and first in strikeouts, with 182.

That strikeout total ties the all-time single season record, matching the total of Tasha Cupp ’98.

“I’m sure she’ll get [the record],” Vertovez said. “I’m excited with our pitching staff. They’ve had their ups and downs this season, but we’re peaking at the right time right now.”

Brown will be on the mound for Game 1 of the weekend series tomorrow afternoon at Dartmouth, as the streaking Crimson offense will try to take advantage of the weaknesses in the Big Green’s pitching staff.

Freshman Hillary Barker and sophomore Devin Lindsay have seen the bulk of the time in the circle for Dartmouth, but neither has an ERA under four.

The Big Green has been powered by its bats, particularly those of junior Alyssa Parker and freshmen Molly Khalil. Parker leads the team with a .327 average, while Khalil has belted nine doubles and four home runs.

Khalil was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week after she hit .438 in Dartmouth’s five games last week.

As Harvard has been heating up, the Big Green has cooled off a bit, splitting a four-game series with third-place Yale last week and dropping a game to Vermont yesterday. But with so much riding on this series, it will be a matter of which team has the focus to grind out the necessary victories.

If the Crimson wins the division title, it will do so Sunday at home on Senior Day, giving the weekend an added significance for Bock and Vertovez.

“It makes it that much more exciting and that much more emotional to play for—everyone’s playing to continue our season, and to be playing to continue our final season is that much more exciting,” Bock said.

For Harvard, and its seniors especially, it’s crunch time, and the team wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Just being one game behind is very exciting for us,” Vertovez said. “Our bats are alive, everyone’s ready to play, it’s supposed to be gorgeous out, and hopefully it will be a great [weekend] for Harvard softball.”

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