SOFTBALL NOTEBOOK: Softball seven games ahead of its '96 pace

This year's Quakers concentrate on putting the ball in play and have a much lower strikeout rate than their opponents. If the Penn softball team lost every single game from now until the end of the season, it would tie its games-won record from last season. The 11-14 Quakers would also win more games than in their 1991, '92 and '93 campaigns. The only season in the past five that Penn managed to gather more than 11 victories is 1994, when it went 14-21. Last season at this time, the Quakers were 4-15. The reason for this season's improvement as compared to seasons past is two-fold. "It's a combination of better talent and better attitude," senior Kara Lecker said. "Our team attitude is much more upbeat this year." · The "better talent" is relatively new to the Quakers softball program as well. The influx of freshmen -- eight, to be exact -- has certainly left its impression on the Penn team, and it shows in its performance. One of those stellar freshman is ace pitcher Suzanne Arbogast. Dubbed "Arby" by her teammates, much to her chagrin, Arbogast leads the Quakers in a number of pitching categories, including earned run average (2.28), strikeouts (56) and innings pitched (55.1). She also leads Penn in losses with her 2-7 record, something that can be attributed to Penn's lack of run support when Arbogast is on the mound. It could also be attributed to the lack of defense when she is hurling. Only 18 of the 36 runs scored on Arbogast are earned. Arbogast's partner in underhanding from the freshman class, Joy Silvern, is responsible for the majority of the Quakers' wins this season. Her 5-4 record, while not the best percentage, is the highest number of wins recorded by any Penn pitcher so far this season. Silvern leads Penn in hits allowed, runs, earned runs and wild pitches, but has managed to overcome it all and stay above .500 so far this season. · Penn's batting has been a threat to opposing teams this season. Combined with the threat of hitting nothing but air against the Quakers pitching staff, Penn has struck out 135 of its opponents while only whiffing 75 times themselves. "We are a contact team," Lecker said. To help improve their hitting, the Quakers have been weightlifting and facing numerous simulated pitchers. With six games a week, Penn's coaches don't want their pitching staff throwing too much during practice, so alternatives are found. A pitching machine, tossed balls and every now and then a player who hurled in high school will step up to the mound during practice. With this weekend's games rained out and nothing on its schedule until Wednesday, Penn has been lifting during practices to help get the bat around faster. "We do focus on offense quite a bit during practice," Quakers captain Vicki Moore said. "We even do drills without a ball to get our swings down." The work has paid off as Sherryl Fodera, Sarah Dominic and Kara Lecker were all among the top 20 batters in the Ivies last week. · Practice makes perfect, or so the saying goes. And while the Quakers aren't perfect, they are doing much better compared to years past and this improvement has increased the team morale by leaps and bounds. It is not unusual to see the Penn players stand in a huddle, hands all in the middle and rattle off some cheers reminiscent of junior high school. This season, whenever the Quakers gather around their coach to cheer each other on, it is not for the sake of going through the motions. "The morale of the team is a lot better than last year," Moore said. "Team attitude is a lot better, too, and we all get along well as a team -- we play well as a team too." For a squad that had so many problems last year both on and off the field, this is a big change. "We're not at the point where we are on a losing streak," Moore said. "We're up and down, but we're winning the big games. It's due in part to our approach to our games. We all support each other and it's a lot easier to look forward to playing when you know that if you start to struggle, someone can and will pick you up."