With the score at 8-3 heading into the seventh inning, it appeared the Penn softball team would drop two games to Villanova yesterday.
But the Quakers rallied with six in the seventh to earn a 9-8 comeback victory in Game 2 of the doubleheader. That followed a 6-2 loss in the first game.
The win gave Penn (14-20, 2-4 Ivy) a split on the evening, its third in as many days.
The rally started on a single by junior shortstop Christina Khosravi, who led the Quakers in Game 2 by going 4-for-5.
Penn players hit five consecutive singles to start the inning and scored three runs before the Wildcats (7-26) recorded the first out.
The Quakers lost a gamble when junior Stephanie Reichert tried to score from first on a base hit to left field by junior Teresa Leyden and was gunned down at the plate for the second out.
But Leyden was able to advance to third on the throw, and she scored the eventual winning run on a passed ball.
"Our momentum was awesome," said junior Kim May, who had a single during the rally. "We just never let up. [Within the last three years,] we've never beaten Villanova, so it was a great win for us."
On an afternoon when the pitching struggled for the Red and Blue, the offense carried the day.
Fifteen hits, including a home run from junior Brandi King, were enough to overcome the eight runs given up to Villanova.
"We come into every game ready to hit the ball, so as long as our pitching and our defense come together we'll be fine," Khosravi said.
Penn's defense was better yesterday, with three errors in the doubleheader versus five Monday against Yale.
But the exhaustion from playing a third doubleheader in as many days caused pitching depth to become a problem.
Coach Leslie King decided to rest freshman starter Emily Denstedt, who had pitched shutouts the previous two days, for upcoming Ivy League games, and instead turned to junior Casey Hare, who normally plays first base.
Hare relieved junior starter Lindsey Permar in Game 1 after the latter gave up five earned runs in three innings.
The first baseman, who pitched in 10 games her freshman year, gave a strong performance, allowing only one run over three innings pitched.
"I was prepared to go in if Coach needed me," Hare said.
"I fell back into my stride like I did freshman year. I'm happy that I was able to contribute to the team and do what Coach asked me to do."
Penn's bats didn't get going until Game 2, however, as Villanova starter Kat Walsh limited Penn to two runs on four hits for a complete game victory.
The Quakers will look to improve upon their performance this weekend in home doubleheaders against Cornell and Columbia.
"We know that we beat Columbia twice last year, so we're definitely going to be pumped and positive going in," May said.
