Back north, Softball set to play six

The Quakers have twin bills with Lafayette today, LaSalle tomorrow and Rider on Sunday. It's that time of year again. As the days of March wind down and the frigid winter climate gradually lifts to make for warm spring days, Major League Baseball teams across the country prepare to leave the confines of sunny Florida to do battle up north. The Penn softball team is no different. After kicking off its season with a 14-game stretch in the Sunshine State over spring break, during which they compiled a 4-10 record, Penn will prepare for its first home games of the season. The Quakers will play three doubleheaders against Lafayette, La Salle and Rider this weekend at Warren Field. And although the trip to Florida was a great experience for the team, the Red and Blue are glad to be back in the friendly confines of West Philly. "The Florida trip brought us closer together, and we feel more comfortable with each other," senior captain and pitcher Suzanne Arbogast said. "I think now playing at Penn on our home field will be a lot easier." "I'm definitely looking forward to playing on our own field," freshman pitcher Dina Parise added. The Quakers' sub-par record going into their first home contests may be a bit deceiving, however. The young squad, comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores, faced extremely challenging competition over the break, including the likes of Illinois-Chicago, which is ranked 20th in the nation. "We're a pretty young team and, for having eight freshmen, I think we played really well," said sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol, who received first team All-Ivy honors in her freshman campaign. Apostol's roommate and starting second-baseman Jamie Pallas agreed. "Our record doesn't really show how good we are," the sophomore infielder said. The Quakers will look to even up their record this weekend, as six wins would bring them to a .500 mark on the season. "We all need to play hard, hit the ball and keep our defense sharp," Pallas said. "If we play like we know how, I'm pretty confident we can take all six." This goal, shared by the whole team, is fairly realistic. The '99 Quakers swept both Lafayette and Rider, while splitting with La Salle, and this year's Penn squad, with the addition of some key freshmen, is believed to be better than last year's. "This year, we're stronger defensively and offensively," Apostol said. "If we play our game, I don't think we'll have a problem this weekend?. It will also be nice to even out our record." Despite that Penn is playing against less-than-stellar competition -- Lafayette has only one win on the season while La Salle is coming off a 30-loss 1999 campaign -- the Quakers know that they cannot take any of their opponents lightly. "Coach [Carol Kashow] always tells us that we shouldn't take anyone lightly," said senior captain Michelle Zaptin, who plays both on the mound and in center field. "We're looking at each game individually to improve our record -- we just want to take one game at a time and see how things go." However, while not being cocky, the Quakers are still bubbling with confidence going into a very important weekend. "I'm really confident in our team, and I think we should win all six games," Parise said. "It will be competitive, but we should be on the winning side."