Softball wins one in tough stretch

The Penn softball team left the Bash at the Beach Tournament in Lewes, Del., last weekend with four losses, but a solid victory in hand.

The long sought-after win came against Saint Francis College on Saturday, as the Quakers' bats were hot with 15 hits.

Several players contributed to the offensive effort for Penn (5-12), as senior Jennifer Nichols hit 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and four other players had two hits a piece.

"Our hitting one through nine really came to the plate," Penn coach Leslie King said. "We hit the ball very hard, and that's something that continues to be a strong point of the team."

Junior pitcher Olivia Mauro came in as relief for junior Lindsey Permar in the second inning, only allowing one run to hold the Terriers' offense at bay and get the win.

"Olivia Mauro did a really nice job coming in as relief and containing them," King said. "That's the kind of performance we're looking for from our pitching staff."

The victory was a welcome result after the Quakers began the weekend Friday with a loss to the tournament's host school, Delaware State, in an eight inning battle that ended with the Blue Hornets on top, 2-1.

Although freshman Emily Denstedt pitched a solid complete game and allowed just one earned run, the Blue Hornets scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the game.

Later that day, Penn faced off against Delaware for the third time this season.

Penn gained a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but once again Delaware proved to be too powerful for the Quakers.

The Blue Hens answered by overwhelming the Red and Blue with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal the victory, 8-5, and dominate the series between the two teams 3-0 for the season.

"The reason for the loss wasn't our inability to score," King said. "We're scoring a lot of runs, we're just giving up too many also."

The Quakers' hard luck carried over to the next day's game against Marist, which resulted in another loss.

Penn dropped the game, 7-3, despite Mauro's four shut-out inning performance from the mound.

Unfortunately, the Quakers weren't able to take the momentum from Saturday's win over St. Francis into the final round of the tournament, and were again defeated by Delaware State, 8-4, as they blew an early 3-0 lead.

After winning only one of five games in the tournament, it's clear the team needs to improve in preparation for its first home game of the season, a double-header against Lafayette (5-7) Thursday.

"We need to work on containing the opposition and keeping ourselves in the ball game," King said. "We have to stay away from big innings [for the opposing team], and if we can do that, we've got a chance to win."

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