Early Mistakes Lead to Defeat

The Harvard softball team (26-14, 10-2 Ivy) took the field yesterday afternoon hoping to earn its fifth consecutive victory as it faced Boston University (24-12, 6-3 America East).

But in the end, it was the Terriers who came out on top at the BU Softball Field, defeating the Crimson, 5-3, and extending their own winning streak to five games.

Early errors hurt Harvard and allowed the host team to jump out on top from the opening pitch.

In the bottom of the first inning, Terrier Erica Casacci reached base on a fielding error by Crimson junior Whitney Shaw. Casacci safely stole second and went on to round the final two bases on passed balls by Harvard freshman catcher Allison Scott.

BU would never trail after Casacci’s first-inning run, as the Crimson would be plagued by similar mistakes throughout the afternoon.

“I think there were a lot of little things that we could have done better,” said junior pitcher Rachel Brown, who allowed an earned run in two innings of relief. “This game was definitely within our reach. We just needed to sharpen up our game.”

The Crimson had put together a complete performance a month ago, when it capitalized on eight hits and held the Terriers to two, coming out on top, 2-1, on the road.

Yesterday, the Crimson once again proved its offensive mettle, coming away with an advantage in hits (6-5).

But the eight runners that Harvard left on base put the Terriers in prime position to earn the non-conference victory.

“Today’s game came down to timely hits,” Brown said. “We outhit them, but our hits just didn’t come at opportune times.”

Crimson coach Jenny Allard felt that the team strayed from the style of play that has earned its current spot in first place in the Ivy League North Division.

“Consistent pitching performances, really strong defense, timely hits, and limiting the opposition has been our formula all year,” Allard said. “We didn’t do enough of that to overcome what they did today.”

After opening the game with a run, BU surged soon after to build up a 5-0 lead. With one out in the third inning, Casacci doubled to left field off of Harvard junior pitcher Mari Zumbro and was driven in by a single by teammate Megan Volpano.

A combination of three Terrier hurlers shut out the Crimson through four innings, and the BU bats went back to work in the bottom of the frame. With two outs and a runner on second base, freshman Jayme Mask stepped to the plate with Casacci looming on deck. Mask doubled down the left field line to bring home junior Kayla Kruper. She was brought home herself by Casacci’s second double of the matchup.

Following the exit of freshman pitcher Laura Ricciardone—who took the loss—Harvard cycled through a number of relievers in an attempt to stifle the streaking home squad.

“We used four pitchers today,” Allard said. “They just adjusted to our changes more quickly than we did to theirs.”

In the final innings of the contest, Harvard went on a run and began to cut into the Terrier lead.

In the top of the sixth, junior Whitney Shaw reached base with a single off of BU’s Whitney Tuthill.

Harvard sophomore Jessica Ferri entered the game to pinch run for Shaw and was able to score after hits from classmates Megan Fazio and Olivia Piccione. Junior Jane Alexander kept the offensive streak going, driving in Fazio for the Crimson’s second run of a solid sixth inning.

“We were swinging at better pitches,” Allard said. “We were putting the ball in play and forcing more errors by their defense.”

Harvard’s offensive awakening continued in the top of the seventh inning, as Shaw doubled to bring in freshman Kasey Lange and reduce BU’s lead to two runs. But Tuthill closed the door on Harvard’s potential comeback, striking Fazio out swinging.

Members of the Crimson suggested that they will use yesterday’s defeat as a learning experience for this weekend’s Ivy contests against Yale.

“I think we will take away from today that we need to be on our ‘A’ game all the time,” Brown said. “We need to play like we can play—just good Harvard softball.”