The Penn softball team finished in last place in the Ivies last year. Yesterday's opponent, Lehigh, won the Patriot League regular season title last year with a 19-1 record.
But this year's Quakers team is a very different squad.
Starting seven freshmen, Penn beat the Engineers, 2-1, in the first game of a doubleheader yesterday in Bethlehem, Pa. The Red and Blue then tied Lehigh in a darkness-shortened second game, 2-2.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Quakers (8-14-1), who start their Ivy League schedule with a home doubleheader against Princeton on Saturday.
In game one, freshman pitcher Lindsey Permar started for the Quakers, pitching four shutout innings before freshman Casey Hare relieved her.
Then, with Penn trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth inning, freshman Kim May came up with runners on second and third and two outs. May, who finished the game 2-for-3, delivered the biggest hit of the day, a two-RBI single that gave Penn the lead for good.
Permar returned for the seventh inning to seal the victory for the Quakers.
While Permar admitted the last inning was a pressure situation, it was nothing new for the freshman.
"As far as I'm concerned, you go into every inning that way," she said.
Penn coach Leslie King Moore was encouraged by the way her players snapped the losing streak, saying that the team "played with a great intensity."
The other member of Penn's starting rotation, senior Nicki Borgstadt, started the second game for the Quakers, in which they also trailed late.
In the seventh inning, the Quakers again found themselves in trouble and needing a big play. This time, however, the play came from the Engineers' side.
After Penn came through with three singles, an error by Lehigh pitcher Kate Arico allowed sophomore Katie Hughes to score from third, tying the game.
Penn freshman Olivia Mauro -- who delivered three scoreless innings in the game -- recorded the final three outs to salvage the tie. The game was called after the seventh inning due to darkness.
Part of the Quakers' success may have come from a team meeting that replaced Tuesday's practice. Moore said that she called the meeting to "make sure we had our heads on straight for starting Ivies."
Saturday's matchup against Princeton to open the league schedule will be Penn's first chance to challenge the pecking order, which last year saw the Tigers at the top.
Permar, who will likely pitch one of the two games against Princeton, is excited about the challenge.
"We're trying to create a new era in Penn softball this year," she said.
