Softball goes scoreless in two against Princeton

The Quakers fell to 8-19 on the season after losing both ends of a doubleheader to visiting Princeton. Whoever said pitching wins ballgames hasn't seen the Penn softball team play lately. The Quakers' pitchers have been terrific yet the team's win-loss record remains bottom-heavy. Sophomore pitchers Suzanne Arbogast and Joy Silvern and freshman Lee Pepe have done the job on the mound for the Quakers (8-19, 0-4 Ivy League), but manage to take the loss game after game due to lack of run support. On Saturday against Ivy League powerhouse Princeton at Warren Field, the story was the same. Princeton swept the Quakers in a doubleheader, winning the top half 2-0 and the second game 6-0. "Our pitching is keeping us in games," captain Lauren Mishner said. "One hit here and there and things could be totally different." In their eight wins, the Quakers averaged eight runs per game, showing that when they can plate baserunners, they can pull out the victory. Penn's offensive production is greatly reduced in their 19 losses, however, in which they averaged only 1.67 runs per game -- including being blanked eight times. To make matters worse, Penn's defense has been shaky at best, with 29 of its opponents' 131 runs, or 22 percent, being unearned. Penn hung in the first game with the Tigers due to a tremendous complete game effort from Arbogast. Arbogast leads the Red and Blue with six wins this season and allowed only two runs on five hits Saturday. "Our pitching was great," Mishner said. "[Arbogast] showed a lot of poise and got out of a lot of tough situations. They had a lot of runners on base, like first and second, but couldn't score." The Tigers came out strong, scoring one run in the top of the first when Andrea Alary singled to left field and was doubled home by third baseman Lauren Poniatowski. The only other run came in the fourth inning when Kamilah Briscoe doubled, again scoring Alary. The tail end of the twin bill had the same outcome, but Penn allowed six runs, two of which were unearned. Pepe lasted only 3 1/3 innings against a tough Princeton lineup that tagged her for seven hits. Princeton broke open the second game in the third inning, scoring three runs on a pair of RBI singles by Briscoe and Wendy Herm following two Quakers errors. Sophomore Joy Silvern made a relief appearance and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings yielding only two hits. Silvern leads the Quakers with an earned run average of 2.33. She is followed by Pepe at 3.00 and Arbogast at 4.04. Judging by such respectable statistics, Penn's overall record is by no means indicative of the potential of its pitching staff. Pepe, despite giving up numerous hits, kept the Quakers in the game, hoping for some solid defensive play and the key hits they have been missing. "It's great for a freshman to come out and pitch that well against a team the caliber of Princeton," Mishner said. Last season when Penn and Princeton matched up, the Quakers folded in both games by the eight-run "mercy" rule. Challenging a Tiger team which won the Ivy title from 1994-96 is a big step in the rebuilding process. "Normally Princeton was always on a pedestal and couldn't be touched," junior captain Sherryl Fodera said. "Now they have sort of been lowered to our level and we showed we can play with them." Today at 3 p.m., the Quakers square off against Lafayette at Warren Field in another doubleheader. Without stringing together some hits to get runners home, the Quakers will have trouble getting out of their scoring slump. "[The pitchers] have done everything we can expect," Fodera said. "They can only do so much. We have to hit and get runners across."