Softball splits with Brown, Yale

The Penn softball team had to work overtime last weekend to pick up its first two Ivy League victories. The Quakers (12-22, 2-6 Ivy League) split a pair of doubleheaders in New England, winning their second game at Brown (5-25, 3-5) on Friday and the opener at Yale (18-17, 4-4) on Saturday. In both of those contests, Penn needed extra innings to get the job done. "Both of our wins were really good games," Penn junior third baseman Jen Moore said. "It helped us character-wise." After dropping their first game in Providence, 5-0, the Quakers rebounded to win an 11-inning marathon by a score of 3-2. Penn sophomore Becky Ranta pitched all 11 innings for her club to earn her sixth victory of the season and the Quakers' first in league play to that point. Though Penn's bats remained fairly quiet after getting blanked by Brown's Erin Durlesser in a three-hitter in the opening game, Ranta allowed the Red and Blue to hang around before eventually securing the win. "It says a lot about her ability and her stamina, to go through the lineup five or six times," Moore said. Moore helped her pitcher out, coming up with one of the afternoon's more important hits. The junior belted a home run over the center field fence to give the Quakers a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. "I didn't expect it to be a home run," said Moore of her reaction once the ball left her bat. "I got under it and I was expecting [the center fielder] to catch it." The Bears responded to the blast with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but that would be the last time they would score. In the top of the 11th, Penn finally got something going again. With Brown just an out away from retiring the side in order, the Quakers staged a dramatic game-winning rally. Penn first baseman Veronica Richardson hit a two-out double, and catcher Dani Landolt then drove in the go-ahead run with a base hit to center field. The momentum from Friday's second game seemed to stay with the Quakers on their bus ride to New Haven. The Red and Blue again prevailed in extra innings, and their success was again the direct result of a masterful pitching performance. Penn freshman Nicki Borgstadt tossed a shutout in a 3-0, nine-inning win over the Elis. "I really tried to mentally prepare for the Yale game and take it one inning at a time," Borgstadt said. "And our defense was incredible." Yet for all of the success that the Lenexa, Kan., native was enjoying on Saturday, Yale's Cara Denver matched her pitch for pitch until the ninth. In what was to be the game's final inning of play, the Red and Blue again established a two-out rally, this time loading the bases with the bottom of the batting order. Shortstop Crista Farrell then cleared the bags with a three-run, line-drive double into the left-center field gap. "I think it's huge for [Farrell]. She's done a lot for this team," said Borgstadt, who mentioned that her teammate had been pressing at the plate recently. "I think it's really important that Crista was able to get that big hit." The Quakers also praised the players who set up the double by making something happen with two outs. "It was a clutch performance by the bottom of our order," Moore said. The Elis would get their revenge in the afternoon's second game. Pitcher Jillian Miles surrendered just one unearned run in a 3-1 decision for Yale. Still, Penn was reasonably satisfied with the four-game split at the two schools, and Moore hopes that the contributions from a variety of Red and Blue players serves as a springboard for the club. "It proves that the talent is spread all throughout," Moore said. "And I think this team is starting to realize it."

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