Rookie Halula Delivers Two Complete-Game Wins for Softball

Freshman pitcher Jamie Halula’s journey has only just begun.

After the Harvard softball team lost its two aces from last season, Halula—along with classmate Morgan Groom and sophomore Gabriele Ruiz—was thrown into a starting role directly out of high school, and she has been making the adjustment to college hitters in game situations since the beginning of non-conference play.

This weekend, Halula’s work paid off, as she delivered the best performances of her young career and led the Crimson to wins in both of her starts.

“I think she’s settling in,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “She hasn’t pitched her best of the year yet. She’s making the transition to the college game where the hitters are bigger and stronger, and the bats are more explosive, and she’s starting to turn a corner in terms of knowing what she needs to do.”

Pitching in the second games of two doubleheaders—against Princeton on Friday and Cornell on Saturday—the first-year threw two complete games that were both called after the fifth inning, when the mercy rule went into effect.

Sporting a 4.13 ERA—second only to Groom—Halula allowed a combined five earned runs on 13 hits, while walking five. The pair of wins brought her record up to 4-4 on the year.

Though Harvard scored a combined eight runs in its first-game losses this weekend, explosive offense in the second games of each doubleheader led to final scores of 11-3 and 11-2 against the Tigers and the Big Red, respectively.

Pitching in front of a high-scoring lineup was a change of pace for Halula, as she and the rest of the staff have often lacked the run support needed to pick up wins, despite strong performances. The Crimson—second to last in the Ivy League in runs scored with 83—has averaged just over three runs per nine innings in Halula’s four losses.

“It felt really good to have such a strong offense,” Halula said. “It was nice to be able to relax and pitch with the offense and the whole team behind you.”

Though the freshman had only three strikeouts on the weekend—all against Cornell—she relied on her location and control to prevent the opposition from squaring up on her pitches.

Halula kept hitters off balance through both games, which allowed her to work around mistakes and pitch out of pressure situations.

After she allowed two singles to Princeton in the top of the fifth and issued a two-out walk to load the bases, Halula induced a pop fly to left, which stranded the runners and ended the inning. Cornell had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, but Halula shut down the rally with a pop-up to short and a fly ball to right. The Tigers and the Big Red left six and seven on base, respectively.

“What she had been doing earlier in the season was trying to overpower hitters, and then she would inevitably not be spinning the ball well,” Allard said. “Now she’s at a place where she’s really finessing the ball and doing a good job getting outs.”

Although she holds fewer strikeouts per game than her counterparts, the freshman averages a team-low 1.6 walks per game.

Despite a couple of rough outings early in the season, Halula has demonstrated poise in the clutch. She owns one save, when she came into the top of the seventh with a two-run lead against Rhode Island and pitched around two singles and one run to earn the Crimson a win.

Allard credited Halula’s success with her hard work so far this season, speaking to her competitive attitude and workhorse mentality that will likely help her continue improving.

“I think it was very hard for her in the preseason, when she was struggling to find her zone,” Allard said. “She wants to be given the ball and really step up for her team.”

Though Halula stood in the circle by herself this weekend, she credited her fellow pitchers with supporting her through the ups and down of the season.

The three pitchers have all shouldered a large portion of the burden in 2013. Groom holds a team-high 77.2 innings pitched, with Halula close behind at 64.1.

Even as a sophomore, Ruiz—whose innings were limited last season—is making a similar adjustment to the larger role as the two freshmen.

“We’re all going through the same thing at the same time, so if one of us is having bad day, the others are really supportive,” Halula said. “It’s really brought us together.”

—Staff writer Hope Schwartz can be reached at hopeschwartz@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @HopeSchwartz16