Penn led Rider, 2-1, as the Quakers softball team prepared to take the field before the bottom of the fifth inning.
But before the Red and Blue could head back out onto the diamond, coach Leslie King Moore called her players into a huddle.
"We are going to win this game," she told her team.
For most teams this would hardly be a bold prediction, but for a Quakers squad that lost 31 games last season, Moore's statement was a way of bringing a winning attitude to the program.
In her first day as Penn head coach, Moore accomplished something that the Quakers did just 10 times in 42 tries last season -- she won a game.
The Quakers defeated Rider, 4-1, after falling to the Broncs, 9-6, in the first game of the double header.
"I was very, very excited," Moore said of her Penn debut. The team "didn't disappoint. They played very well considering this is the first time we've had dirt under our cleats since October."
The first game saw Rider (1-1) -- an NCAA Tournament team last year -- jump out to a 4-1 lead over the first four innings. Penn (1-1) knotted the score at four in the fifth inning on a two-RBI double by freshman outfielder Melissa Haffner and another RBI double by sophomore Jen Nichols.
But Rider pulled away in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring five runs on five hits.
The second game of the day, however, saw freshman Lindsey Permar pitch a complete game five-hitter in her first career appearance. The Perkasie, Pa., native allowed just one run, a homer to designated hitter Kristin Kenavan.
Freshmen Julia Cheney and Brandi King hit home runs yesterday, tying the amount of homers the team hit all of last season.
"It was nice to get that first win, especially after a disappointing loss," Moore said.
