Softball just waiting for 1995 season to end

For the past six days, the Penn softball team has been eagerly anticipating tomorrow's doubleheader at Cornell. What the Quakers are most looking forward to is the bus ride home. Having just lost its school-record 31st game Wednesday against St. Joe's, Penn is ready to call it quits. "It's been a pretty depressing year," injured centerfielder Abby Shore said. "It's just gone too far for too long." But the Big Red may be the perfect remedy for the struggling Quakers. Cornell opened the season March 19 with a monstrous doubleheader sweep of Coppin State. In the first game, the Big Red humiliated the Eagles, 43-4. The nightcap was equally embarrassing for Coppin State, which was shut out by Cornell, 26-0. The red-hot start by the Big Red proved nothing but a mirage. After the Coppin State wins gave it a 2-0 record, Cornell (3-26-1, 1-9 Ivy League) endured a streak of 27 winless contests. The Big Red finally got win number three last Friday against Dartmouth -- its first win in over a month. Cornell's offense has never been a problem. The Big Red averages over five runs per game and hits over .280 as a team. Cornell is led at the plate by Laura Steigerwalt and Jessica Greig, who are both hitting over .340. Much of the blame for the Big Red's abysmal record can be pointed at the pitching staff. Opposing batters are hitting at a .360 clip against Cornell pitchers and average almost seven earned runs per game. The Big Red's ace, Allison Maggart, sports an earned-run average of over 6 and walks more than twice as many runners as she strikes out. When Cornell goes to bullpen, things get even worse. The Big Red's other two pitchers both have ERAs over 7 and allow about two hits per inning. The Quakers' offense may not be as potent as Cornell's, but their pitching is drastically superior. With starters Vicki Moore and Melanie Bolt and starter/relief pitcher Dawn Kulp, the Quakers (10-31, 2-8) are blessed with one of the deepest staffs in the conference. Although Penn lacks the single dominating ace the top Ivy leaders possess, the three-deep rotation provides coach Linda Carothers with many options. In fact, the Quakers' fourth pitcher, Jen Strawley, has a lower ERA than the Big Red's ace. The doubleheader marks the last two games of Kulp's career. She has started all four years for Carothers. Her resume includes the Ivy Rookie of the Year award and second-team all-Ivy honors. But it is the award Kulp won last year her teammates stress -- that of Penn's Most Inspirational Player. "She provides a lot of support to the team," Shore said. "You'll never hear her say a bad word about any of her teammates even if they make a big error." "She always gives everything she can," third baseman Kristin Richeimer added. "If anyone gets down, she picks them up." With Dartmouth's sweep of Penn last Saturday and the Big Green's split with the Big Red the following day, tomorrow's Penn-Cornell twin bill will be a battle to stay out of the Ivy League cellar. The Quakers need to win one of the two games to clinch sixth place in the conference. "Obviously we don't want to finish last," Richeimer said. "Everybody keeps talking about the pride factor, but it's just gone on for too long. It's pretty depressing."