Yesterday afternoon, in a doubleheader against Delaware, the Penn softball team showed its heart. The team played the day away, stopping only at dusk.
In each of their games, the Quakers were forced into extra innings by the Blue Hens, who were hoping for a repeat of last year's two decisive wins over the Red and Blue.
Fortunately for the Quakers, their tenacity and composed play under pressure allowed them to win their first game. In the second, the Red and Blue fought for 15 innings before settling for a scoreless tie as the sun set and play was forced to end. In the process, however, Penn (6-7-1) ended a losing streak to Delaware (6-9-1) that ran for more than three years.
"Since I've been here, we haven't ever beaten Delaware," senior Danielle Landolt said.
"These were our first games since spring break in Florida. We wanted to go in and do well and work on things that we realized in Florida we needed to pay attention to. We finished with one win, which was good, and now we just need to keep going on the same track."
Throughout the day's games, the Quakers relied on strong individual performances from the likes of pitchers senior Rebecca Ranta and junior Nicki Borgstadt, along with solid play-making by senior Crista Farrell, junior Erin O'Brien and sophomore Kristi Hackett.
"The pitchers both threw excellent games," Landolt said. "Farrell had some really strong plays both defensively and offensively. Kristi Hackett also had a really good game."
At noon, the Quakers took the field for their first game looking to avenge last season's 5-1 defeat After seven innings, both teams' scores were fixed at one each.
However, thanks to O'Brien's timely hitting skills, the Quakers were able to nab the 2-1 victory.
In the second game neither the Quakers nor the Blue Hens were able to score any runs. After seven innings, the score remained tied and once again, the game was forced into extra innings. Eight innings later, the game was still scoreless, and the game ended prematurely because of the sunset.
After a hard-fought victory and a drawn-out tie, the Quakers ended the afternoon pleased overall with their performance. Led by a group of talented upperclassmen and an emerging freshman class, the Quakers, though improving upon last season's record, still have to work out some kinks.
"We left a lot of runners on base," Landolt said. "So what we want to do is get people on and score them. That's the main thing we need to work on."
Additionally, in the coming weeks, the Quakers will work on developing their freshmen, three of whom started in Sunday's games against Delaware.
"The freshmen are doing really well," Landolt said. "They've really stepped up and into their positions really well. These were their first games back at Penn since spring break and they all did really well."
The Quakers hope to continue their winning ways at Lafayette in Easton, Pa., Thursday.
"I think we had a great day," Landolt said. "If we keep playing like we played today, we're going to have a great season and be a team that other teams have to reckon with and can't just look past."
