NOTEBOOK: Softball looks for hitting answers

The Quakers find themselves in danger of an 0-12 Ivy season unless their bats can come to life. The numbers are not pretty. In fact, they are downright ugly. A .122 team batting average. A .143 on-base percentage. An ERA of 9.10. With these statistics, it should come as no surprise that the Penn softball team is 0-4 in its Ivy League games this season. Last year the Quakers were 0-12 against the other Ivies. Although Penn started the season at 8-7, nine losses in their last 10 games -- including all four Ivy games -- have raised the possibility of another winless Ivy season. "Of course it's in the back of our minds -- especially for the returning players," Penn junior Suzanne Arbogast said. "But I'm absolutely confident that we won't [finish 0-12 again]." Penn has been swept in both of its Ivy League doubleheaders. Princeton won 3-2 and 14-1, while Cornell whitewashed the Quakers in both games last Sunday, 9-0 and 6-0. Only 12 Quakers have reached base in the four games -- an average of just three per game. Four players -- Christine Fenyus, Clarisa Apostol, Jen Moore and Jaime Hojdila -- have combined for Penn's 10 hits. Granted, the Quakers pitchers have given up 32 runs in 20 innings, but poor hitting is more of a concern to the team. Against Cornell, Penn had just four baserunners in two games. "The lack of offense is what's been killing us all season," Penn catcher Molly Meehan said. "Our pitchers both threw really well. [The Big Red] were just hitting the ball all over the field." The Quakers have four Ivy games in each of the next two weekends. They will host Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend and will travel to Yale and Dartmouth on April 24 and 25. "I can't even conceive of the fact that this team can't win a couple games in the Ivies," Penn coach Carol Kashow said. "We're 0-4 now but we've got eight more games to go." The last Ivy League win for Penn was a 5-3 decision at Dartmouth on April 27, 1997. · In 1997, catcher Sarah Dominic garnered honorable mention All-Ivy honors as a freshman. Last year she started 34 of Penn's 39 games. But this year freshman Molly Meehan has captured the starting job behind the plate. "Coming in, I assumed I would be the backup," Meehan said. "But in the first game in Florida, [Kashow] had me in the starting lineup." Dominic, who batted .213 last season, has found it a little difficult to adjust to a diminished workload on the field this season. "It's been really different," Dominic said. "I've had to learn to take an entirely different role. I definitely needed to learn how to do the cheering from the bench." Dominic's teammates have also had some adjusting to do. Seeing Dominic on the bench instead of behind the plate has been difficult for the players who had grown used to playing alongside her. "As upperclassmen it's hard when a freshman comes in and takes away the job of someone you've played two years with," junior Michelle Zaptin said. Penn still sees more of Dominic than Meehan at the plate, however. Dominic is 2-for-12 on the season, while Meehan is hitless in just five at-bats this year. The Penn freshman has been replaced in most games with a designated hitter. "I've always batted for all my other teams, so it surprised me," Meehan said. "In the beginning I felt like I couldn't contribute to the team if I'm not hitting, but I guess I'm getting used to it." Dominic, who played outfield and third base before converting to catcher, has been used in a more utility role this season, although her primary position is still catcher. "I'll play wherever [Kashow] feels that I might help," Dominic said. "I try just as hard wherever she puts me in practice." · The Quakers often gather together for home-cooked meals. Their favorite dish? Zaptin's chicken pot pie. "Michelle Zaptin cooks the best chicken pot pie," Penn freshman Jen Moore said. "I've never had pot pie before but hers is just so incredible!" Zaptin is a little surprised at all the publicity her specialty dish garners. "Everywhere I go people ask me about them [the pot pies]," Zaptin said. "[The team members] all seem to really like them so I just keep making them." Team dinners help the Quakers bond and bonding is especially important for Penn in the midst of a midseason slump. "The most important thing for us is to stay together and not argue," Dominic said. And what better to keep the team close-knit than a fresh-out-of-the-oven chicken pot pie?