Softball attempts to make history

The Quakers have the chance to give the Tigers their first two Ivy losses. The Penn softball team (8-17, 0-2 Ivy League) has spent much of its season trying to break away from its recent history. Meanwhile, the Princeton softball team (9-5) is struggling to cling to its tradition. The Tigers squad that won three consecutive Ivy titles from 1993-96 no longer exists and what is left apparently is having trouble living up to the absolute domination that characterized the Tigers of the mid-'90s. The Tigers have been Ivy League champion 12 times since 1980. More than past history is on Princeton's side heading into the doubleheader this weekend at Warren Field at 1 p.m. The Tigers have also won their last six contests. Last season alone Princeton held Penn to three hits total in its twin bill. The final score for both games was 8-0. In recent years all the other Ivies have been playing catch-up to Princeton. But as more emphasis is placed on softball within the Ivy institutions, Penn included, the Tigers' domination in softball into the next century is not so secure. "Now the Ivy's are a very competitive situation in softball," Kashow said. "There is no one who can dominate. Cornell looks really strong this year, Princeton will always be competitive, Yale is going to have something to say, Harvard is doing really well right now and Penn, we just keep scrapping away." Going into its third Ivy League match-up, Penn, a young team, continues to chip away at the many problems that plague inexperienced teams. A problem that continues to play a major role in the success of this team is its lack of confidence. "Lately it has been, 'we should have'," freshman outfielder Vicky Frondozo said. "It is a matter of saying, 'we did'. It would be nice to say that this weekend." The Quakers do not like losing two games to any team, and that attitude has sparked three doubleheader splits, with Penn always picking up the second game. In both twin bills, against La Salle and Delaware, Penn came back from a 4-0 loss to win the second game, and in the case of the Explorers, they came back to win by a handy five runs. "I think that we are really scrappy," Penn coach Carol Kashow said. "Sometimes we get like a dangerous animal, you get our backs against the wall and we start fighting and clawing." In the second game of doubleheaders, the Quakers have a way of buckling down, tightening up their defense and swinging their bats that has earned them victories. Unfortunately it has been taking an initial loss to get Penn to that point. "I think a lot of us get our act into gear by the second game," freshman hurler Lee Pepe said. "Plus you are more warmed up and you are less nervous by the second game. You are going out more prepared, and more ready to win and you are wanting it more." With a continuous stream of double headers looming, a lot of pressure falls on the four-woman pitching staff of the Quakers. Earlier in the season, Kashow expressed concern over the lack of longevity of her pitchers on the mound. As the season has progressed, Kashow's concerns have somewhat ebbed as her underclassmen have matured. "I usually get scared around the fourth or fifth inning, because I know that is normally when I start giving up a lot of hits and runs," Pepe said. "I just pretend that there is no such thing as a scoreboard and just keep going." Penn senior captain Jen Strawley has seen little time starting on the mound this season as her abilities are needed elsewhere on the field. Strawley has played third, second and is often brought in as relief, having finished five games for the Quakers. Because of her commitments elsewhere on the diamond, the brunt of the pitching responsibility falls on the two sophomores, Joy Silvern and Suzanne Arbogast, and Pepe. Kashow has faith in her pitching staff, but admits they are held back by their youth. Kashow stresses the need for her pitchers to stay focussed and throw their game even with runners aboard. "Our strength is their [pitchers] ability," Kashow said. "They have very good ability. Their weakness is they are not always believing in that ability."