Softball offense awakens in wins

The Quakers won two relatively high-scoring games at Lehigh. The Penn softball team snapped out of its recent funk with an offensive explosion yesterday afternoon in Bethlehem, Pa. After producing just one win in their last eight contests, the Quakers swept host Lehigh, 6-5 and 11-8, with something that had been missing in their last few games -- runs. And their offensive potency could not have come at a better time. The Quakers (11-16-1) are heading into the most important part of their season as they square off against Yale and Brown this weekend to kick off their Ivy League slate. Thus, the two victories were extremely important for building confidence and momentum heading into Ancient Eight competition. "The Ivy League is up for grabs this season," said freshman pitcher Becky Ranta, who tossed a complete game in the opener yesterday. "We're on a roll now, and we'll hope to carry that into this weekend." The Quakers put their hitting shoes on in the opener. After falling behind 4-1 in the third, Penn's bats caught fire. Shortstop Crista Farrell had an RBI double in the fourth to bring the Quakers within two before the Red and Blue got a little help from Lehigh's fielders to tie the game in the fifth. Penn did not record a hit in the fifth, but two Engineers errors and a wild pitch helped produce the Quakers runs. After Penn and Lehigh exchanged runs in the sixth, senior first baseman Kari Dennis provided the game-winner in the seventh, driving home sophomore third baseman Jen Moore with a single to right-center field. Ranta, who gave up four earned runs on 13 hits, set Lehigh down in order in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the 6-5 victory. Ranta picked up her seventh win on the year. While the Quakers took advantage of some Lehigh miscues and picked up some timely hits in the first game, the second game was an absolute offensive barrage that was called after five due to darkness. In just five innings of play, the Quakers produced their highest run-total of the season, scoring 11 runs on 13 hits -- this coming from the same squad that scored only four combined runs in their last three defeats. "It's nice to score a lot of runs," Farrell said. "We've been leaving a lot of runners on base and losing by a couple lately, but today we did a good job getting a lot of clutch hits with two outs." In the second game of the twin bill, sophomore left fielder Clarisa Apostol led off with a single up the middle and was driven home with a three-bagger from freshman right fielder Deb Kowalchuk. Two batters later, Kowalchuk crossed the plate with a sacrifice fly from freshman designated hitter Heidi Albrecht. But Lehigh also had some extra pop in their bats. The Engineers cut the Penn lead in half with a run in the bottom half of the first, and after a Quakers run in the second, Lehigh took a 4-3 lead behind a two-run dinger from Tara Stine in the bottom of the second. After the Quakers and Engineers exchanged three runs a piece in the third, Penn put up three more in the top of the fourth to take a 9-7 lead -- a lead that it would never relinquish. The Quakers added two more runs in the fifth, and freshman pitcher Dina Parise got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth to give the Quakers an 11-8 victory. Parise, who gave up four earned runs off seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, picked up her first collegiate win. But this was not a game for pitchers, as this slugfest produced four lead changes, 19 combined runs and scoring in every inning. The Quakers will look to continue this high level of offensive production when they host Ivy rivals Yale and Brown in consecutive double dips on Saturday and Sunday at Warren Field.