Elis quiet Softball bats in doubleheader sweep

With six lifeless swings, the Penn softball team buried itself right out of Ivy League contention. Intimidating the power right out of the Quaker bats was Yale's reputed pitching staff, which held the Quakers to only three single hits in each game of Sunday's doubleheader. The Bulldogs defeated Penn twice by identical 1-0 scores. The games were postponed from Saturday. "I think that there was a lot of hype going into the game about the Yale pitchers," senior Hilary Stamos said. "People were afraid at the plate. Personally, I wasn't impressed. We have seen better in other games, but it was intimidating." Yale's pitchers kept the Quakers quiet -- too quiet to even think about improving their Ivy League record (2-4) to a winning record. "You can't win if you don't hit," senior co-captain Rachel Walsh said. "We weren't hitting." Without any action at the plate, Penn (14-15) was unable to pull out a win despite tremendous pitching efforts by senior Lanie Moore and freshman Vicki Moore. In the first game, Lanie Moore held Yale to five hits and no earned runs with one strikeout and two walks. Vicki Moore had one of her best outings of the year in the second game, allowing only three hits while striking out four and walking one with no earned runs. "The pitching was strong," senior co-captain Rachel Walsh said. "Lanie and Vicki pitched well. They kept the ball down." "They did what they had to do," Stamos said. "Vicki was the best I've seen her pitch." With deathly silence, the innings passed with an occasional Quaker stranded on first. Stamos attempted to ignite action in the second inning with a single, but the team did not respond. The Quakers did not get on base again until the fifth inning, when freshman Laurie Nestler singled, but the Quakers still could not answer with a run. In a rare moment of weakness, a Yale pitcher walked freshman Samantha Smithson in the sixth inning. Senior Stacey Thompson singled to advance Smithson to second -- the first and last time a Quaker would touch past first in the game. Defensively, Penn committed three errors -- one too many as the Bulldogs capitalized in the third with a run off a fielding error. "The runs scored because of our errors," Stamos said. "That was tough for us." Unfortunately for Penn, it was also typical. The second game went much the same way. After a tough loss in the first game, the Quakers came out strong with singles by Vicki Moore and Thompson. But no one could send them home, and the Quakers did not get on base again until the fourth inning. Stamos singled. Then Nestler walked. But once again Penn could not capitalize, and left the game scoreless. Mirroring the first game, a third-inning error allowed Yale to score, and the Quakers were unable to make up the deficit. With six more games left in the season, and no hope to place high in the Ivies, the team left cold and rainy New Haven downtrodden and weary. "It's going to be hard to motivate the team," Stamos said. "We are completely out of the Ivies." But the team still has something to prove, and it is hoping to gain back its pride against St. Joseph's tomorrow. "We are very disappointed," Walsh said. "It hurt, but we still have four Ivy games left. We are definitely psyched to play St. Joe's. We are ready for some revenge."