Softball is ready for action

After four days off, the Penn softball team hosts a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Last year Penn managed just three runs and six hits in a doubleheader split against Delaware. But that Quaker team was hitting .227 coming into the game. The 1999 edition of Penn softball is currently hitting at a .276 clip. "We're definitely not the same team as last year," Penn outfielder Jaime Hojdila said. "Our hitting has come around so much more." But don't expect a slugfest on Saturday when the Blue Hens (9-5) meet the Quakers (8-7) at 1 p.m. on Warren Field. Delaware may be hitting .309 as a team, but the Blue Hens are at their best with their fielding mitts on. "They're more solid defensively than a lot of teams we've played," Penn sophomore Michelle Zaptin said. "And their pitching is especially good." Last year, Delaware won 2-0 in the opening game on the strength of a two-hit shutout by Kristi O'Connell. The junior hurler, 5-2 this season, will likely start one of the two games on Saturday. "She had pitched a no-hitter the game before," Zaptin said of O'Connell. "So she was pretty confident [against Penn]. She throws very hard and has a lot of movement." Penn staged a comeback to win the nightcap against Delaware last March 28. Catcher Sarah Dominic doubled in Zaptin to tie the game at one in the seventh. The Quakers then took advantage of Blue Hen defensive miscues to put two on the board in the eighth -- which constitutes extra innings for softball -- on their way to a 3-1 victory. Delaware looks to be just as strong this year. Senior Krysta Pidstawski, with a 3.13 ERA, complements O'Connell on the mound, while junior Chris Brady and sophomore Lauren Mark lead the offensive attack. Brady is hitting .361 with a team leading 13 RBIs and Mark holds a .410 average and 11 RBIs. Freshman Mandy Welch may be the Blue Hens' brightest star however, leading the club with a .526 average. "We played Delaware in the fall," Penn freshman Jen Moore said. "I think they're pretty close to Villanova and we should have beaten Villanova both games. They're definitely better than La Salle [with whom Penn split last Friday]." The Quakers will travel to Wagner on Sunday to play the Seahawks at 1 p.m. at Wagner Softball Complex. La Salle defeated Wagner soundly in all four meetings between the two squads earlier this year. "We haven't played them ever so we don't know what to expect," Hojdila said. "Player-wise, we don't know who's good and who's not." But it does not matter to the Penn softball players whether they are playing Wagner College or Honus Wagner. The Quakers, who have not seen action since Sunday, just want to play. "Because we had Monday and Tuesday off from practice," Hojdila said, "we're looking to play anybody. The way we're feeling this year, we can play Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and be fine with that." While its schedule is not quite that packed, Penn will not have many more days to rest. They have no more than four days off between games from now until the end of the season. This should mean fewer practices but also fewer days off. "Pretty much, after this weekend we're not slowing down," Moore said. "But that's good. I can speak for pretty much all of us when I say we'd rather be playing than practicing." The Quakers, who are only three games shy of their win total from last year, are above .500 for the first time in coach Carol Kashow's two-year tenure. The .500 mark signifies a huge improvement over last year's 10-29 record. "Five hundred is nice," freshman Clarisa Apostol said, "but we're looking a lot higher than that." In addition, the Quakers can equal last season's win total if they can win two of the four games this weekend. Penn's first Ivy League game will be against Princeton on April 2, but the Quakers are not looking past their two doubleheaders this weekend. "We've been splitting a lot of double headers," Zaptin said. "Now we want to take both games."