Doubleheader on tap for Softball at 'Nova

Penn hopes to ride its pitching to a sweep on the Main Line today. The Penn softball team is doing its best to show that pitching is not one of its liabilities, as some had predicted at the beginning of the season. The Quakers went 4-2 over this past weekend and gave up a total of only 12 runs, including a shutout victory against Lafayette. Penn started the weekend off 4-0 by sweeping doubleheaders against Lafayette and La Salle, but then lost two pitchers' duels to Rider on Sunday to drop its record back down to 8-12. "We had some really good pitching over the weekend," sophomore third baseman Jen Moore said. "Against Rider, we just didn't seem to get hits at the right time, when we needed them." Today, the Quakers will face off against Villanova. The Wildcats, who will host the game, sport an 11-6 mark on the year. Last season, these two teams, which play every year, split a doubleheader. "We are going into the game with the attitude that we should win both games," Penn senior co-captain Suzanne Arbogast said. "They are a tough team and have some great pitchers, but we are confident that we can walk away with two victories." One reason for Penn's strong pitching as of late has been the superb efforts of freshman hurler Becky Ranta. Ranta, who won her first three college starts, is credited with five of the Quakers' eight victories on the year. Ranta was also solid over the weekend. Against Lafayette she was unstoppable, throwing a three-hit complete game shutout. She also threw a complete game and gave up only two runs in a hard-luck loss to Rider. "Becky has been pitching really well, especially considering that she is a freshman," Moore said. "She's pitching with a lot of confidence, and her curveball is consistently fooling the batters and sometimes even the fielders." For the Quakers to sweep the doubleheader, they will definitely need more offense. Penn struggled to produce runs against Rider, scoring only once in two games. "In practice, we have been working more on hitting, so that should help everyone out," senior co-captain Michelle Zaptin said. "We know that we're not going to score nine or 10 runs every day, but we should be better against Villanova and get a few more hits and runs." One major problem for the squad has been an inability to consistently hit well with runners on base. "[Against Rider] we had some baserunners, but we just couldn't seem to hit them in," Moore said. "It's still early in the season though, so we just need to keep working and we'll be fine." Villanova may be about the last team that Penn wants to play, given the hitting difficulties that have plagued the Quakers as of late. The Wildcats are coming off a doubleheader against Monmouth in which they gave up a total of only two runs. "Everyone was pretty tired after four games and I think that was a factor against Rider," Arbogast said. "We're rested now and ready to play well. Our games with them always seem to be close, so it should be exciting."

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