Softball Opens Ivy Season with Columbia, Penn

A bit of bad weather was not enough to get in the way of the start of the Ivy League softball season for the Harvard softball team. After Saturday’s games were moved to Sunday due to unplayable conditions, the team wrapped up its first conference weekend 1-3, travelling to Columbia and Penn.

Up until this point in the season, the team has been preparing for conference play by facing competition in warm weather areas in order to gain experience playing together.

PENN 15, HARVARD 14 (8 INNINGS)

In the longest game yet this season, the Crimson (8-15, 1-3 Ivy) fought hard with the Quakers (11-9, 3-1) for eight innings, ultimately being outscored by Penn, 15-14. Harvard saw its 14 runs come from the bats of eight different players, with seniors Andrea Del Conte and Adrienne Hume each leading the team with three RBIs.

Though the Quakers were on the board early with a three run home run in the bottom of the first inning, the Crimson offense was not intimidated, as it answered with four runs in the top of the second. Two more were added in the third, extending Harvard’s lead to 6-3.

The lead built up to six runs with the Crimson adding four more in the top of the fifth inning, but this time Penn had a strong answer. After sending 12 players to the plate, the dust cleared and the Quakers had not only made up the deficit, but pulled ahead to lead 11-10.

Both teams went back and forth in the last two innings, going into the eighth tied at 14. After Harvard was unable to score in the top of the frame, Penn muscled across a run across to seal its victory.

PENN 10, HARVARD 4

The Crimson was unable to come back from a 4-0 deficit set in the first inning, ultimately falling in the opening game of Sunday’s play.

Harvard was not going down without a fight after going down in the first, as a second inning home run by Hume put two runs on the board. A glimmer of hope manifested in the third inning after an error and a stolen base put Del Conte in scoring position and senior infielder Katherine Lantz ripped a single to center that scored Del Conte, closing the gap to one run.

Penn was in control of the offense from then on, scoring another five runs in the fourth and one in the fifth.

“The way that the Ivy League is this year it’s going to be a really tight race to the championship and after this weekend’s games I think everyone is pretty close and we all know that and we know it’s going to be a fight to the end so all these games are meaningful,” Lantz said.

COLUMBIA 3, HARVARD 0

The first half of the second match up between the two teams was a pitchers duel, with neither team crossing home plate in the first three innings. Columbia (4-15, 1-3) was the first to break the trend in the bottom of the fourth, after a leadoff walk and a hit by a pitch put two Lions on base with no outs. A ground out that advanced the runners allowed Tonia Wu’s fly out to left field to turn into a sacrifice and a Columbia run.

The Lions tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings, with no answer coming from the Harvard bats.

Junior pitcher Morgan Groom took the loss, going four innings with six strikeouts and two earned runs.

HARVARD 3, COLUMBIA 2

The Crimson’s only win of the weekend came in the opening game of the road trip.

Riding the arm of senior pitcher Laura Ricciardone, who went all seven innings and struck out five, Harvard was able to come from behind and take the opening game of the double header.

Columbia scored first in the bottom of the first, as leadoff hitter Alix Cook reached on a bunt single and came home on a double by Kerry Cook.

It was not until the fifth inning that the Crimson broke its silence when sophomore infielder Giana Panariello homered for the first time in her career. Panariello had all three RBIs for Harvard, with her sixth inning double providing the second and third run of the game for the Crimson.

“This weekend’s games were a little bit tough but I feel like we’re working through some things and we finally got our offense back so now it’s about fixing the other things that put our game together,” freshman infielder Melissa Lacro said.

—Staff writer Ariel Smolik-Valles can be reached at asmolikvalles@college.harvard.edu.