Softball creeping closer to .500 mark

It was the bottom of the fifth, and the bases were loaded with one out as sophomore Stephanie Reichert took her place in the batter's box for the Quakers. With the pressure on, Reichert responded with a grand slam to put the Quakers ahead by two runs in the first game of their doubleheader against Rider.

The Quakers held onto their lead in the first game, winning 7-5, and then went on to sweep the Broncs in the doubleheader, winning the second game 5-1, to improve to 8-10 on the year.

Hitting well continued to be a critical component of the Quakers' success, as Reichert and others gained confidence with each swing.

"I felt very confident," Reichert said. "I watched Kaelin [Ainley] and Mimi [Melissa Haffner] hit before me, and it gave me a lot of confidence to go up there and hit well."

Reichert led the Quakers' offensive attack by going 6-for-8, scoring one run and driving in five.

The rest of the Quakers lineup enjoyed hitting success as well, as the team went 18-for-53 on the weekend.

"We hit the ball very well in both games," Penn coach Leslie Moore said. "We scored seven runs in the first game and still [left] 13 runners on base. We were hitting the ball very hard which is nice to see."

Among other players that hit well were sophomore Kim May and junior captain Meghan Cowen. May went 4-for-7, had one run and two RBIs, while Cowen went 4-for-5, scoring two runs.

May and Cowen also helped to set the stage for Reichart's game-winning grand slam in the first game. After sophomore Brandi King drew a one-out walk, Cowen followed with a free pass of her own. Haffner struck out looking before before King's. Ainley then drew a walk scoring King to set up the heroics.

Hitting was not the only factor that contributed to Penn's sweep of Rider, however, as pitchers Lindsey Permar and Anne Ferracane also had outstanding games.

Permar put in a solid performance, pitching six innings in the first game. She surrendered just two earned runs and walked four.

Ferracane, a freshman, dominated the second game of the doubleheader as she threw her second complete game of the season, giving up only three hits, two walks and no earned runs.

Ferracane attributed her successful day to many factors.

"I was definitely focused," Ferracane said. "Having my team behind me was definitely the major key to my success."

Ferracane also expressed the importance the extra days of rest in between starts, as chronic elbow tendonitis forced her to leave her last start against Monmouth. Thursday's game against Lafayette was postponed, giving Ferracane five days of rest.

There was no sign of the soreness in the game against Rider as Ferracane, 5-4 this season, delivered another outstanding performance.

"We're only going to perform as well as our pitchers do," Moore said. "Our pitchers kept us in the game today, and that's what made the difference."

Even with all the success, Moore identified a few aspects that the Quakers still have to work on.

"We had a couple of dropped catches and our pitchers walked a few people," Moore said. "We just have to eliminate those types of mistakes."

The Quakers' sweep of the Broncs marked the first time the squad has swept a doubleheader at home since Moore took over as head coach.

"It was an excellent, excellent result for us" the second-year coach said. "It's something we can build upon going into the Ivy League next weekend."

And with the start of intraconference play around the corner, the Quakers will be looking to build on their early success in an effort to finish better than their 1-13 Ivy League record of last season.

The Quakers, are just two wins short of last year's win total. They have a chance to hit that mark Tuesday in a doubleheader against Lehigh at Warren Field.

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