Down by two runs with two innings to play, the Penn softball team's bats came alive. The Quakers scored three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to defeat Drexel 8-4 yesterday.
In Game 2, however, it was the Dragons who pulled out the come-from-behind win, 7-6, giving the Quakers a split in the afternoon doubleheader.
Penn (15-25, 2-8 Ivy) took the lead early on in the opener when sophomore Annie Kinsey smacked a two-RBI single. The base hit came after the Quakers had loaded the bases with two outs.
Drexel (12-24) responded with three in the third off junior pitcher Olivia Mauro, including a two-run homer by Dragons catcher Molly Dacey.
But Mauro calmed down and finished the game with four earned runs allowed over seven innings to pick up her fifth win of the year.
"They got three runs in one inning, but nothing we couldn't get out of," Kinsey said. Mauro "kept us in the game and shut them down at the end."
The Quakers' late-inning rallies were driven by the small ball. The team had three sacrifice hits in the contest versus only one extra-base hit.
The eventual winning run scored on a sacrifice by Kinsey.
"We were definitely able to string more hits together," junior Christina Khosravi said. "We got bunts down, which allowed us to take the lead. It wasn't just the big hits."
In the second game, Penn knocked Dragons' starter Amanda Shattuck out of the game almost before it had started.
Shattuck walked four batters and let in three runs before being pulled. She recorded only one out which came on a sacrifice bunt by Quakers junior Teresa Leyden.
Penn batted around in the inning, but the rally was finally cut short when junior Julia Cheney was cut down at the plate for the second out and junior Kaelin Ainley followed with a fly out.
Penn starter Lindsey Permar did not fare much better, giving way to junior Casey Hare after loading the bases with one out. Hare conceded a double to the first batter she faced. This allowed two inherited runners to score, but got out of the inning without any further damage.
"They're a good hitting team, but nothing that we haven't seen before," Hare said. "They were able to get the singles that won the game for them."
Penn took the lead again on a triple from Ainley and a solo homer by Khosravi.
But Drexel came back with two in the sixth to tie, and won it on a walk-off double by Dacey with one down in the seventh.
Freshman pitcher Emily Denstedt was kept out the games due to blisters on her fingers, Khosravi said.
Penn will conclude the season on the road this weekend with doubleheaders against Ivy League rivals Dartmouth and Harvard.
With their win yesterday, the Red and Blue accumulated 15 victories on a season for the first time since 2001 -- the fourth time it succeeded doing this in team history. A win in any of this weekend's games would give Penn the most victories it has had in over 20 years.
"We want to end on a winning note," Khosravi said. "We need to make sure all three aspects of our game come together."
