Softball set to get back in Ivy race

The Penn softball team will be looking for a jumpstart this weekend as it hits the road to face Ivy foes Brown (3-23, 1-3 Ivy League) and Yale (16-15, 2-2). The Quakers (10-19, 0-4) have sputtered since splitting a doubleheader with Lehigh last week.. Penn lost all four of its games against Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend and was greeted Wednesday afternoon by rainy skies, forcing its doubleheader against Drexel to be postponed. The Quakers will look to get back into the Ivy race this weekend, and Penn coach Carol Kashow believes that they will have every opportunity to do just that. "We had Dartmouth on the ropes and let them get away, and now they're on top of the Ivies," Kashow said. "There will be very competitive games all throughout the Ivies, because there is almost complete parity in the league." The Quakers will need to take advantage of that parity while traveling on this holiday weekend. "It will be our first road trip since our Florida trip," Penn sophomore Lisa McNeely said. "We'll have to work harder than when we're at home. We need to pick it up after four losses, but we're still in the Ivy League race." Penn will be leaning heavily upon its two pitchers, sophomore Becky Ranta and freshman Nicki Borgstadt, to pick up some crucial wins. The two have shouldered a big load as of late, with each pitching in recent extra-inning contests. "These kids are used to throwing a fair amount, and we prepare them well," Kashow said. "Sometimes it might be tough mentally, though. As always with a young team we're asking them to play a year ahead of themselves." The Quakers offense is beginning to click and, according to Penn junior third baseman Jen Moore, the team should be able to put some runs on the scoreboard this weekend. "I'm back at 100 percent, Deb [Kowalchuk] has been performing well and the bottom of our lineup has done well," Moore said. "The bottom of the lineup might surprise some other teams." Penn's opponents for the weekend have already managed to notch their first Ivy wins. Brown split a doubleheader with Columbia last weekend, while Yale swept the Lions before dropping a pair to Cornell. But of the two, the Quakers know that the Elis will be the superior team. "Yale has good pitching, and also some players who have been hitting the ball," Kashow said. "But if we can contain them, we have a good opportunity to beat Yale."

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