Softball finds better luck up north, earns sweep

After a week in Florida over Spring Break, biting cold and swirling winds welcomed the Penn softball team back to the Northeast this week. The Quakers overcame Lafayette and the bitter conditions with a clean sweep over the Engineers in Easton, Pa., on Friday afternoon. Penn (6-10) shut out the Leopards (1-11), 4-0, in the opening game before pulling out a 3-2 victory in the finale. After losing nine of their first 11 games in Florida, the Red and Blue have rebounded to win four of their last five. "We knew going in that we should win these two games," said Penn freshman pitcher Nicki Borgstadt, who picked up the complete-game victory in the second game. "It's definitely good that we didn't look past them." In the first game, Penn sophomore pitcher Becky Ranta was the story. The Greenwich, Conn., native tossed a complete game one-hitter, striking out two along the way. The lone Lafayette hit was a Kelly Wise single to left field in the fourth inning, which pushed a Leopard runner into scoring position for one of only three times in the game. "Overall, I think that [Ranta] did a great job," said Penn sophomore designated player Lisa McNeeley, who played third base on Friday in the absence of the injured Jen Moore. "She did a great job hitting her spots. I think it was her best performance all year." The Penn offense wasn't exactly stellar in the first game, however, as the Quakers managed to collect only five hits, with no player picking up more than one. Yet Penn, more than the Leopards, seemed to use the adverse weather conditions more to its benefit. "I think we actually had the advantage because we put more balls in the air," said McNeeley, who added that Lafayette had difficulty in combatting the wind, and thus committed three errors in each game. Conversely, the Red and Blue made a total of just three for the day. In the second game, Penn sophomore outfielder Deb Kowalchuk went 4-for-4, saving her most crucial hit for the game's final inning when the Quakers broke a 2-2 tie to secure a doubleheader sweep. Both teams were notified prior to the sixth inning that it would be the last on account of darkness. Penn then assumed the lead in dramatic fashion. With two outs and no one on in the top of the sixth, sophomore shortstop Crista Farrell doubled to left and scored when Kowalchuk slammed a triple to right. "She's a very, very hard worker," McNeeley said of Kowalchuk and her recent hot streak. "She doesn't get breaks often enough, but when she does, she puts them all together." In the bottom of the sixth, Borgstadt held off the Leopards, despite surrendering a leadoff walk to Danielle Fesco. After a sacrifice bunt and then a groundout, Fesco was left stranded at third base when Erin Allison bounced out to Farrell at short. "A lot of times in the second game, when I was pitching, we were in tough situations," Borgstadt said. "[But] our team played great defense and we were able to leave a lot of baserunners out there." Penn will look to continue its solid play when it hosts a doubleheader against Temple on Wednesday.

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