Softball crushed by Cornell, kills Columbia

The Penn softball team dropped two games to Cornell but defeated Columbia's club team. The emotions on the Penn softball team ran from one extreme to the other this weekend at Warren Field. Penn began its Ivy season with a rude awakening as Cornell (15-3, 2-0 Ivy League) trounced the Quakers 13-0 in the first game, and took the back end of the doubleheader 5-0. Penn (7-16, 0-2) fought back Sunday to win the first game against Columbia 10-2 and the second by an incredible score of 23-0. Cornell's pitching along with a poor defensive display by the Quakers proved too much for Penn to handle. The Quakers never even gave themselves a chance, giving up four runs in the first inning of both games, a deficit too big to overcome. The Quakers' defense has been inconsistent all season, giving up multiple errors in some games while going perfect in the field in others. Saturday was one of those unexplainable days where ground balls slipped through the infield and wild throws plagued everyone. Five errors buried Penn in the first match up while another four hurt them in game two. "They had big first innings in both games," Penn captain Sheryl Fodera said. "Falling behind by that much kind of puts a damper on things." Unlike the Quakers, Cornell's bats were booming. The Big Red mustered 13 runs on 13 hits in the 5.1 innings that sophomore pitcher Suzanne Arbogast threw in a game called short after the sixth inning due to the "mercy rule." Cornell followed that performance up with five runs on six hits off freshman Lee Pepe. "We just didn't put the ball into play," Fodera said. "The few times we did they showed they were going to make errors, and they showed it in their warmup and we just didn't challenge them in that regard." Sunday was a day of revenge for the Quakers. Still feeling the sting from the beating by Cornell, Penn went after Columbia with all it had. Columbia didn't stand a chance. Unfortunately, the pair of victories won't go in the win column in the Ivy standings because the Lions only have club sports status. Arbogast pitched the front end of the twin bill giving up two runs on two hits in a complete game limited to five innings by the mercy rule. Her win was the team-leading fifth of the season. Pepe followed her in the second game, giving up one hit in four scoreless innings for the win. Sophomore pitcher Joy Silvern came on in the fifth to close the game out and retired all three batters she faced. "We came out and we played to win," Pepe said. "It was great to see everyone hitting. Our defense was pretty good, I just hope we can keep it up." Columbia's pitchers struggled all day on the mound. Gita Pillai started both games for the Lions and issued eight free passes in the first game and 10 in the second. Eleven wild pitches contributed to a number of Quaker runs as Pillai was unable to find the plate. The Quakers broke the first game open in the second inning on a pair of singles sandwiched around a hit batsman, and four walks. Freshman Jaime Hojdila led the way for Penn going 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. The Lions' lone runs came on a two-run blast by firstbaseman Anne-Marie Ebner in the fourth inning. The shot was one of two hits on the day' the other was a double by Kelly McSkimming the batter before. The second game was a festival as Penn scored 23 runs on only 13 hits. The biggest blow came in the third inning when the Quakers brought home 10 runs as they sent 15 batters to the plate. Sophomore Kari Dennis went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs including a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the third. Pepe helped her own cause getting her first two hits of the season -- both doubles. "It felt good because I've been in kind of a slump lately," Pepe said. "It's nice to get a hit every once in a while, but it's better for the team to just get the start of a winning streak again."