Penn receives mixed reviews after 2-2 weekend

In baseball terms, the Penn softball team's two doubleheaders against Dartmouth and Harvard in its final weekend would be referred to as a split. But if Siskel and Ebert were watching the four games, the April 27 pair against the Big Green - which Penn swept, 4-3 and 9-3 - would get thumbs up and the April 28 double dip with the Crimson - in which the Quakers fell 0-3 and 1-11 - would get a thumbs down. For the Quakers (8-27, 3-9 Ivy League), the games against Dartmouth (5-25,0-8) were filled with plenty of Oscar-worthy performances. The favorites for Best Supporting Actress against Dartmouth were Penn's two top pitchers. Both Vicki Moore and Jen Strawley had similar acts. Moore and Strawley each threw complete games, even though they allowed the opposition to rack up seven and nine hits, repectively. In addition to a strong outing on the mound, Moore shined at the plate. On Saturday, Moore went 3-for-5 and finished her Ivy season with the second-best average in conference play at .500. The other nominees for Best Supporting Actress were third baseman Amy Malerba and catcher/outfielder Arlyn Katzen. Malerba, who has struggled at times this year as her .200 average indicates, picked up her stats in the last games of the season. Against the Big Green, Malerba had her best doubleheader of the season going 40for09 with two RBIs. Katzen, playing her first games in the outfield, had her finest weekend of the season. Against Dartmouth, Katzen went 3-for-7, and, even with a disappointing Sunday versus the Crimson, Katzen finished at a .320 clip against Ivy opponents. "The past few weeks I have been making solid contact," Katzen said. "I had hoped to be a contributor at the start f the season, so my performance this weekend is something I had expected to be doing all year." While there were other nominees in the best supporting actress category, according to Penn coach Linda Carothers the favorite for best Performance by a Quaker this weekend went to shortstop Sherryl Fodera. Carothers said that Fodera has an excellent shot to garner Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors. Finishing out a brilliant freshman season, Fodera (.305, 11 RBIs) went 2-for-5 against the Big Green and then lit up Harvard's pitchers, going 4-for-4 with two walks. "I just came in this weekend and tried my best to do what I could to help us get wins," Fodera said. If Saturday's games were action-packed thrillers, Sunday's games were major flops. After scorching the Big Green in both games for a combined 22 hits, the Quakers could only manage a measly total of nine hits versus the Crimson. "The first game was a great game, and if we could have produced runs our chances of winning were real good," Carothers said. "But in the second game, we were off, and they flat our drove the ball against us. They basically hit everything we were throwing, and, hey, Harvard played great and earned that second game." Maybe so, but right now, the softball season is over and the Quakers will have the whole off-season to remember dropping eight of their last 10 to finish three games out of the Ivy cellar in 1996. If the Quakers' season had played out like a typical Hollywood film, all the pain and suffering of the season would have somehow turned into a championship victory and tears of joy. But this is not he movies, and minus a few exceptional Quakers performances in 1996, there seems to be no doubt what review Siskel and Ebert would give the Quakers' 8-27 season. Thumbs down.