The hits simply would not come for the Penn softball team yesterday.
As a result, the Quakers, (6-13-1, 0-0 Ivy) were swept by Lehigh (13-5, 1-0 Patriot). Penn only managed one run on the day as it lost 5-0 and 7-1, at Warren Field.
"It was just very frustrating," Penn junior Nicole Borgstadt said. "We most definitely did not play to our abilities tonight."
Junior Erin O'Brien was the lone bright spot from the plate for the Quakers -- knocking in two doubles in the later game, the second of which scored the team's lone run.
"It's hard, because this is our last game before going into our Ivy opener," Borgstadt said. "We would have liked to have come out with two wins."
"I just don't think we came out with the aggression that we are capable of," Penn senior Erica Miller said.
The runs came early for the Engineers in the first game, as senior pitcher Jenny Bender singled in the top of the first inning to give the visitors the lead. Penn managed to hold Lehigh scoreless until the sixth inning, when the Engineers unleashed a flurry of hits which drove in four more runs and sealed the win.
Bender also shone on the mound. The senior pitched all seven innings and allowed only one Quakers hit, a single by sophomore Kristi Hackett in the sixth inning.
"On our better days, we could have hit her much better," Miller said. "I think she was a strong pitcher, but I think we have done better against stronger pitchers."
In the second game, Lehigh again benefitted from superb pitching. Junior Danielle Rescovich threw five innings, allowing all of Penn's three hits in the game, and freshman Kate Arico closed the game with two scoreless innings.
"We had a hard time making adjustments" to the Engineers' pitching, Borgstadt said.
O'Brien's doubles ensured that the Quakers would not be shut out on the entire day, but Borgstadt was shelled for 14 hits in a complete game outing and gave up five of Lehigh's seven runs in the first three innings.
"I was just very frustrated," said Borgstadt, who also recorded four strikeouts on the day. "I felt pretty 'on' and I was hitting my spots well. They were just hitting me."
The team now has to prepare for its Ivy League opener on the road against defending champion Princeton Saturday afternoon. The Quakers lost to the Tigers, 2-0, last year, a result which cost them a shot at the championship.
"Right now, our goal is to refocus and kind of put tonight past us, and move forward," Borgstadt said. "All that matters is the Ivy League, so all that matters is how we play the next three weekends.
"It's just how close we are, or could be, to an Ivy League title."
