Softball attempts to blow down the Tigers' house

Penn coach Linda Carothers put the team through conditioning drills yesterday before four games. It's going to take a whole lot of huffing and puffing for Penn softball to blow Princeton's house down. In preparation, the squad was doing a whole lot of heavy breathing after yesterday's tough "conditioning" practice that Penn coach Linda Carothers put her team through. Heading into its toughest weekend of the season, Penn (11-14, 0-2 Ivy League) needs consistency at the plate and in the field in order to earn its first Ivy victory. Tomorrow, the Quakers host the Fightin' Blue Hens of Delaware (13-8) at Warren Field, followed by the Tigers on Sunday. The Penn bats have been sporadically connecting with pitches and usually struggling against the opposition's ace. Penn will have to face the likes Delaware's two aces, each over-powering and dominant in her own way. Krysta Pidstawski and Kristi O'Conner, or "Double K," as Delaware coach B.J. Ferguson calls them, each has the capability of shutting out the opposition. The two each have one no-hitter and a one-hitter this season. "We have a lot of youth on this team that haven't seen different types of pitching," Carothers said. "At 43 feet, the ball comes in really quick and has a lot of movement." On Sunday, the Quakers resume their Ivy League season with a doubleheader at Princeton. Despite a sub-.500 record at 15-16, Princeton, the three-time defending Ivy League champions, will be as tough a team as any that Penn will face. "I've heard that Princeton is struggling, but for some reason, no one ever struggles when we play them," Carothers said. "They know we're a threat on any given day and no team in the Ivies writes us off." Led by 1996 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Maureen Davies, the Tigers have taken on the nation's top teams such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Massachusetts. All-Ivy seniors Michelle Morale, Mandy Pfeiffer and Tara Christie comprise the solid infield that can hit the ball and score runs. This weekend, once again, the Quakers will send the freshman tandem of Joy Silvern and Suzy Arbogast to the mound. For these freshmen, maturity and patience will be necessities as Delaware and Princeton have batters that can hit the ball well. Both Arbogast and Silvern have shown they have adjusted to the three-foot difference of mound-to-plate distance between high school and college. "It's been really tough for Suzanne, but we've been happy with her progress." Carothers said. "She's been matched up against the opposition's top pitcher just about every outing, and we have not been able to get her any runs. Joy has reaped the benefits of us getting on a pitcher." While Arbogast has only won two of her games, her earned run average is a team-low 2.28, and she leads the team with 56 strikeouts. "As much as we are getting better, and our record is a great indication of that improvement," said Carothers, "our players are getting better." While the Quakers continue to improve, the Ivy League title will be decided in the next three weeks. Crunch time has arrived, and the Quakers are still alive and fighting. "This is a really quick season, with a lot of games over a short period of time," Carothers said. "And it's unfortunate because if you get in a slump, the season's over. You can't really make a mistake."