Softball ties school wins record

 

Just under an hour ago, a remarkably upbeat group of Penn softball players walked into the dorm where I live. Given that they just returned from a weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth -- always the most strenuous Ivy League road trip of the year for any Quakers team -- I was surprised that they weren't all on the verge of falling asleep.

But they had a very good reason for being so cheery: they won three games this weekend, bringing their record to 18-26 (5-9 Ivy League). That ties the school record for wins set by the 1981 Penn squad, which won the only Ancient Eight title in program history. Yes, that team only played 24 games, and yes, this year's squad has one more loss than last year's team that went 14-25. Still, it's a pretty big accomplishment.

It's even more remarkable considering how those three wins came. In the first game Saturday against Dartmouth, Penn pitcher Emily Dentstedt carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, when it was broken up on a double by Big Green shortstop Ashley Gleason. Dartmouth plated two runs in the frame to make the score 5-2 in Penn's favor, then had runners at the corners in the seventh with no outs. But Denstedt got the next three Big Green hitters to fly out, finishing off the complete game win.

As if that's not enough tension, consider what happened in the second game. Penn took a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning, when Dartmouth got its first run of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, the Big Green scored again on a bunt single by Gleason, making it 4-2. With runners on second and third, Alycia Petryk got a base hit that scored two runs, then tried to turn it into a double but was thrown out at second base. That was the final out of the inning, but it came after both runners crossed the plate.

So it was off to extra innings. After a scoreless eighth, Penn took a 5-4 lead in the ninth on a groundout by pitcher Brandi King with runners on second and third. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, which counts as drama no matter the size of the ball and the field, Dartmouth's Kelly Fry hit a game-tying home run to keep the game alive. The teams played on until the 13th inning, when Penn's Julia Cheney smashed a two-run home run to put Penn up for good, 7-5.

Amazingly, Dartmouth's Stephanie Trudeau pitched all 13 innings for the Big Green, while Penn used three pitchers -- Olivia Mauro (the seven "regulation" innings), Michelle Rehm (the first four extra innings and the start of the fifth) and Denstedt (the rest of the game).

Sunday's doubleheader at Harvard was also quite prolonged. This time it was Mother Nature's fault, as rain pushed back the start of the day's action an hour and forced three more delays thereafter. Perhaps showing some fatigue, Penn gave up seven runs in the first three innings of Game 1 to the Crimson, but rallied with three runs in the seventh to make the final score a very respectable 7-6.

In the second game, Crimson starter Shelley Madick lasted all of one-third of an inning, giving up two runs. Penn would tack on six more by the end of the day for a 8-0 win and the record-tying victory.

So give credit to this Penn team for persevering through all that softball, and all that travel. At least in my case, it goes to show once again why athletes can do what they do, while the writers write about it instead.

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