Softball splits for fourth time in a row

The Penn softball team has split every doubleheader this season, but Saturday it came close to breaking tradition at Delaware. In an 11-inning thriller, Penn lost the first game 2-1, but came back to win the second 5-2. "We played really sharp," Penn freshman Vicki Moore said. "We only gave up one error in the field in the first game. For the first time, I think we worked really well as a team." In the first game of the doubleheader, Penn (5-10) maintained a 1-0 lead until the seventh inning with Moore holding tough on the mound. She finished with a nearly perfect performance after lasting through 11 innings and throwing 125 pitches. With two strikeouts and only three walks, the freshman hurler stymied the Blue Hens at the plate. "Vicki Moore pitched an incredible game," senior catcher Stacey Thompson said. "For a freshman to pitch that great against a team of Delaware's caliber was incredible. She threw as hard in the 11th inning as she did in the fifth." The Quakers scored their first and only run in the second inning on freshman Laurie Nestler's RBI. After senior Hilary Stamos singled, Nestler nailed a double to center field which drove in Stamos. The Fightin' Blue Hens, however, would not let the game slide. When Delaware's Lauren Baugher doubled, the barnyard bustle she started in the Blue Hen flock was enough to send her home and tie the game at 1. Delaware challenged the Quakers through four extra innings until it finally knocked in a second run to take the victory away from Penn. "To lose a game by one run in 11 innings is tough," Moore said. "It's especially tough on a pitcher." Coming back with a vengeance in the second game, the Quakers hammered home four runs in the first inning. The Blue Hens were unable to keep up the fight due to the strong efforts of Quaker freshman Melanie Bolt, Thompson and Stamos. "That was our team coming out and saying that this team was not better than us," Thompson said. On the mound, Bolt gave up only two runs and two walks with one strikeout over seven innings. A force behind the plate as well, Bolt's single in the first inning led off the four-run effort. Bolt advanced to second after freshman Samantha Smithson walked. Thompson then slammed a single to load the bases and set the stage for power-hitter Stamos. She came through with a triple, knocking in three runs. Nestler was next at bat, and with her second RBI of the day, sent Stamos home. "[Stamos] is a big hitter," Thompson said. "For her to come back [from a year abroad in Russia] is such an incredible asset for the team. She's really showing people that she is a great softball player." With weak hitting in the second game, the Blue Hens were unable to recover from their first-inning deficit. Delaware's Kristen Layatta sent the Quakers chills in the fifth inning with a home run. But Penn was quick to make sure it would not lose its lead for the second straight game. After Bolt singled, Thompson hit a triple to knock her home and seal the game, 5-2 in the seventh inning. "We realized that the game wasn't over with our four runs," Moore said. "We had to stay tough." After she finished without any hits in the first game, Thompson went a stellar 4 for 4 at the plate in the second. "I felt really good about [hitting]," Thompson said. "I thought it was a good thing for the team especially because I wasn't a help in the first game." Throughout the early season, the Quakers have come out slowly in their first games only to come back aggressively in their second. In order to improve on their winning percentage, they will need to get into the games earlier. "The team has to become tougher right out of the gate," Thompson said. "We have to come and get right down to business in the first game."