Softball halts losing streak with split

The Penn softball team ended its six-game losing streak yesterday in the first game of a doubleheader against Lehigh. But the Quakers could not have done it without some help from a backup outfielder and a questionable call at first base. Penn (9-14) was leading 4-2 with two outs in the seventh, but Lehigh (12-16) was still very much alive. The Engineers had runners on first and second and their No. 3 hitter, Bonnie Hoffman, at the plate. Hoffman hit what looked to be a routine single in front of rightfielder Lindsay Wagner. But Wagner -- who pinch-ran in the fifth and then stayed in the game for defensive purposes -- reeled back and gunned a shocked Hoffman out at first. Lehigh rally dead. Game over. Penn win. "I don't think she threw me out," Hoffman said. "The umpire said I was out but I think it was a pretty close play and could have gone either way. Maybe he was just trying to end the game early." The winning ways for the Quakers would be short-lived, however. Lehigh shut down Penn 6-0 in the second game to earn a doubleheader split. Early in the first game, Penn appeared on its way to a seventh straight loss. Lehigh had a 1-0 lead three batters into the game and was threatening to put more runs on the board. But pitcher Suzanne Arbogast masterfully worked her way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam. The Penn hurler started a 1-2-3 double play on a Stephanie Rapel ground ball and got Christine Duncan to foul out to end the inning. Lehigh wasted another bases loaded, no-out opportunity in the fifth, scoring only one more run. "We've been coming through in those situations the past couple weeks," Lehigh coach Fran Trojan said. "We really squandered a couple of opportunities." Penn third baseman Jen Moore, meanwhile, had better luck in the clutch than the Lehigh batters. She hit a two-out, two-run double to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth. The second game was dominated by Lehigh pitcher Emily Deia, who was making just her third collegiate start. The Engineers sophomore, who is coming off a serious knee injury, allowed only two Quakers hits in a complete-game shutout. "She's deceptively quick because she mixes her speeds a whole lot," Trojan said. "She'll throw one pitch in at 48 miles per hour and the next one will be 60. She did a nice job of keeping Penn's offense off-balance." Penn will play again on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Cornell at Niemand-Robison Field. Cornell (18-6, 0-0 Ivy) outscored Penn in a doubleheader sweep last year by a margin of 18-0. "I saw [Penn] play Cornell last year and every girl has the same swing," the freshman Moore said. "They're all like 5'4'' but they're all big. I expect them to come out hitting the ball hard and to be really aggressive on the basepaths. They're definitely the best team in the Ivies. "Their coach's name is Dick Blood. A coach with a name of Blood -- doesn't that scare you?"

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