Red and Blue score early in sweep of Lehigh

Going into yesterday's doubleheader against Lehigh, the gameplan was simple for the Penn softball team -- get ahead quickly and stay in front of the explosive Mountain Hawks.

"We scored early," Penn coach Leslie King said. "We scored first in both games and wanted to try and go strong out of the gate."

And the Quakers did just that to complete the sweep over Lehigh, with scores of 6-3 and 3-1.

Junior Stephanie Reichert started the charge in the first inning of Game 1 with a double to left. The hit led to the first run for Penn (11-14) after a sacrifice fly by sophomore Annie Kinsey.

The game would remain tied until the seventh inning, when Reichert scored her second run of the day after a triple to right field.

But the Mountain Hawks were not ready to be handed a loss just yet, scoring a run of their own to send the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning, the Red and Blue scored three to seal the win with an impressive offensive effort -- 17 hits overall.

"Their pitching just wasn't able to contain our hitting and we just out-hit them," King said. "Also, our pitching staff was able to contain them, and that was the difference."

Junior pitcher Olivia Mauro held the Mountain Hawks to just two earned runs and two walks in seven innings of work, and was relieved by Lindsey Permar, who allowed no earned runs in the win.

Going with the old adage that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," the Quakers used the same gameplan in Game 2, getting ahead early to come out on top yet again.

Penn scored three runs in the first and would need no more after that.

And once again, Reichert was the catalyst for the offensive effort. A double to center led to a run scored, while Kinsey and Christina Khosravi crossed the plate for the Quakers' two final runs.

"The team really responded and did exactly what we asked them to do," King said. "We went up and Lehigh was chasing in both games. I think that was the key."

Although Lehigh would score a run in the bottom of the first, it would be the only run of the darkness-shortened second game that the Red and Blue's defense would allow.

"We made several outstanding plays [on defense]," King said.

Khosravi made one such play when she snagged a line drive and turned a double-play to get the first two outs of the third inning.

Freshman pitcher Emily Denstedt was also part of this effort, scattering six hits over five innings with only one earned run and one walk.

"The morale is excellent and the confidence level is really high," King said. "The team is making great plays defensively, swinging the bat very well, they're playing this fearless type of ball and that's really great to see."

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