Softball Goes 1-3 in First Two Conference Doubleheaders

Harvard softball traveled to Philadelphia and New York to kick off its 2017 Ivy League slate against conference foes Penn and Columbia. A year removed from finishing as the runner-up in the Ancient Eight, the Crimson faltered in its first two conference doubleheaders.

Led by clutch hitting from sophomore catcher Elizabeth Shively and dominant pitching by sophomore southpaw Katie Duncan, Harvard (9-12, 1-3 Ivy) split two contests on Saturday with the Quakers (11-10, 2-2).

On Sunday, the Crimson dropped two games to the Lions (11-13, 4-0). Harvard’s bats could not mount an attack in the opening contest, and a seventh-inning Columbia rally sunk the Crimson in the final game of the weekend.

“I think this weekend was disappointing when we look at the end results,” sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Schiffhauer said. “We all know that we are more capable than what we showed these past four games. We have to keep the pressure on all seven innings in every single game we play.”

COLUMBIA 6, HARVARD 5

Untimely errors were Harvard’s downfall in the final game of the weekend’s four-game set. The Crimson committed four miscues, including two in the final frame, to allow the Lions to eke out a victory.

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, Harvard commanded a 5-2 advantage. After allowing baserunners to reach via an error and a walk, senior righthander Taylor Cabe was lifted in favor of sophomore Sarah Smith.

Attempting to lock down her third save of the season, Smith gave up a single through the right side, conceded a five-pitch walk, and then recorded a groundout to cut the Crimson lead to 5-4 with two outs and runners on second and third.

After taking a called strike, junior shortstop Madison Gott laced a single into right field. A miscue by junior Maddy Kaplan led freshman outfielder Amber Swinarski to race across home, delivering Columbia a walk-off win.

Errors plagued Harvard from the outset of the game. In the bottom of the first, Swinarski reached on an error by first baseman Jillian Leslie, and she crossed the plate as freshman outfielder Sommer Grzybek reached base on the Crimson’s second error of the inning.

Despite conceding four runs, two of which were earned, Cabe surrendered just two hits on the day.

Sophomore shortstop Rhianna Rich went three-for-four with a run scored, an RBI, and a stolen base.

COLUMBIA 3, HARVARD 1

After scraping for a 2-1 victory over Penn in the second half of Saturday’s doubleheader, Harvard’s bats continued to go silent in the team’s first matchup against the Lions.

Columbia’s starter, freshman Madison Canby, stymied the Crimson offense in a complete-game victory, her sixth of the season. Canby spread four hits over seven innings and punched out two.

“Columbia’s pitcher did a good job of hitting her spots and keeping the ball on the corners of the plate,” Rich said. “However, we had a lot of good at bats where we hit the ball hard, but we kept hitting them right to players. So [the] stats don't really show what we did well against her, but that's the game.”

In the top of the seventh, freshman first baseman Olivia Giaquinto smacked the first home run of her short career to spoil Canby’s shutout bid.

Duncan started her second game in a row after defeating Penn on Saturday. The sophomore held the Lions to two runs in 4.2 innings, but Harvard was unable to figure out Canby and provide Duncan sufficient run support.

HARVARD 2, PENN 1

In the second contest of the Saturday twin bill against the Quakers, the Crimson claimed its first Ancient Eight win of the season.

For the second time in two games, Harvard scored all its runs in the top of the first. Kaplan got the ball rolling with a double to left field, but she was cut down on the ensuing fielder’s choice by second-year third baseman Erin Lockhart. Back-to-back doubles from Schiffhauer and Shively brought in two runs.

Shively repeated her performance from the first game of the day, again going one-for-three with two runs batted in. This time, these two runs made all the difference in the outcome, as Duncan shut down Penn’s offense.

“Elizabeth and Katie played incredibly for us this weekend,” Schiffhauer said. “Elizabeth came up for us in a lot of clutch situations and came through every time, especially in our win.”

Duncan went the distance without allowing an earned run. The Allendale, N.J. native did not strike out any Quakers but only gave up four hits and a walk.

“Katie has been stepping up consistently for our team throughout the year, and we have to provide her with the run support she needs because she deserved two wins this weekend,” Schiffhauer added.

Penn’s lone run came on a three-base error and a subsequent single in the bottom of the sixth. With a runner on first, the Quakers threatened to tie the game at two, as senior first baseman Alexis Sargent smacked a double into right field. However, Kaplan’s throw caught Penn’s Jurie Joyner between second and third, and she was eventually tagged out to end the inning.

After the first inning doubles barrage, the Crimson only recorded one more hit in the game, a base knock by Giaquinto.

PENN 5, HARVARD 4

Harvard kicked off its 2017 Ivy League slate with a one-run loss to Penn in Philadelphia.

Jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, the Crimson appeared to be in excellent position to put a rare blemish on Quaker ace Alexis Sargent’s record.

Shively roped a single through the left side to plate two, and two more runs scored on an error by Penn first baseman Sarah Cwiertnia and a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior designated hitter Catherine Callaway.

“Our game plan was just to go out swinging,” Rich said. “We saw her last year and knew we could hit her, so it was just a matter of coming out ready to swing our bats which we did really well the first inning. One good at bat led to the next and the momentum kept building.”

However, those four runs would be all the Harvard bats would muster in seven innings. Sargent regrouped after the first and allowed only three more hits on the day, all singles, en route to a complete game win. The senior struck out two in her sixth victory of the season.

Senior righthander Taylor Cabe flummoxed the Quakers’ batters through four innings, but Penn tacked on four runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth to knot the game at four. The Quakers pushed across another in their next turn at bat, and Sargent shut down the Crimson in the seventh to clinch the win.

—Staff writer Jack Stockless can be reached at jack.stockless@thecrimson.com