Pitching will be Softball's key

Having three pitchers each throwing day in and day out, you would figure the performances from the mound have been the problem for the Quakers. Actually, the pitching has kept Penn in many games. With senior Lanie Moore and freshman Vicki Moore as the starters, and freshman Melanie Bolt as the sole reliever, the Quakers have had some solid performances on the mound for such an understaffed rotation. Senior pitcher Cherie Gerstadt has been injured for the last few weeks and junior co-captain Dawn Kulp has had control problems on the mound, despite her success at first base. The lack of pitchers, however, has not stopped the Quaker staff from shining. Lanie Moore's 1.09 ERA leads the team, while Vicki Moore is right behind her at 1.27. Bolt gives up an average of 2.23 earned runs a game. Opponents are batting a meager .233 against the trio. The three members of Penn's pitching staff hope to keep up these statistics when they play St. Joseph's 3:30 p.m. today at Warren Field. "[Bolt] is cool under fire, and that's what you need from a reliever," Penn coach Linda Carothers said. "She's a stable influence when someone's struggling or we need to change the momentum of the game. "The three-person rotation has worked very well for us. It would be nice if that weren't the case. We're living and dying with it, but we've been very successful." This weekend's doubleheader against Yale was no exception to the pitching rotation's success. "Lanie and Vicki had a three and four hitter, respectively," Carothers said. "They threw well, we just didn't get them any runs." The Quakers lost both games 1-0, despite the excellent pitching efforts, due to a lack of clutch hitting. "It gets frustrating," Vicki Moore said, "because everyone tells you, 'You pitched such a great game.' It's nice for people to tell you, 'That's the best game you've thrown all year,' but it's still a loss." Lanie Moore has known this frustration all too well during her four years as a Quaker. "I've been there," she said. "I told [Vicki] she pitched a great game and to continue to do what she's doing because she's pitching really well." Penn will need more solid outings from the Moores and Bolt if it expects to take two games from St. Joe's today. "We played them earlier this year," Lanie Moore said. "They 10-runned us in five innings. We made a lot of errors that game, but they're very beatable. I think it is a really important game coming off two losses this weekend." "It was an ugly game," Carothers said. "We didn't do well and they hit the ball. They've got a really talented bunch of players. St. Joe's is a very aggressive, hard-hitting ballclub." Unfortunately for the Quakers, solid pitching is just one of the many things Penn must have in order to leave Warren Field with two victories. "We have to move baserunners and keep St. Joe's off the bases," Carothers said. "But that's the strategy in any game. We're capable of doing that." Assuming the Quakers fulfill their offensive expectations, they know they can count on the Moores and Bolt to do their part.

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