The Penn softball team closes out its season away from home this weekend with four games against Dartmouth and Harvard.
The Quakers currently sit in last place in the Ivy League with a .200 winning percentage. Their opponents, Dartmouth and Harvard, are in third and fourth place, respectively.
The Quakers (15-25, 2-8 Ivy) finished in seventh place last season and would likely need a couple wins to match that this year. However, they could move to as high as fourth in the league with a weekend sweep.
"We were up-and-down this year," freshman pitcher Emily Denstedt said. "Whatever team comes out and plays the best will win. It should be a great weekend."
On Wednesday against Drexel, Penn reached the 15-win plateau for just the fourth time in team history. Only once have the Quakers exceeded this mark -- in 1981, when they went 18-4 en route to winning the Ivy League.
This year's squad has an outside chance of matching that mark, but it would only take one victory to become the second-winningest team in program history.
Of course, the team plays twice as many contests as it did 25 years ago.
But whether or not it sets a record, this team wants to have a successful final weekend.
"We're just looking to play some good softball," sophomore Annie Kinsey said. ".500 is not within reach, but we're going to try to play our game and take a couple."
Denstedt should start Saturday after being held out of Wednesday's games at Drexel due to blisters on her fingers.
"They're fine now," she said. "We were giving me one extra day to make sure they completely healed."
Junior Olivia Mauro picked up the slack and pitched a complete game victory in Game 1 against the Dragons with some help from Kinsey's four-RBI performance.
Penn could not complete the sweep, however, and fell in the nightcap 7-6 after a late-inning Drexel comeback.
The more important games come this weekend, though.
"Everything is really focused on the Ivy League," junior Casey Hare said.
The team looks to rebound from their loss to Drexel starting tomorrow against the Big Green.
If its pitching can hold up, Penn has a good chance to do so.
The Quakers have had no trouble with offense this season, and lead the league in batting average at .295. Dartmouth, on the other hand, is last with a .223 team mark. Penn has 75 extra-base hits on the year, compared to Dartmouth's 31.
However, the Quakers are dead last in the league in ERA, at 4.94, and strikeouts, with only 100. Harvard's team ERA is 3.16, and Dartmouth's staff has 165 Ks in 65 fewer innings pitched than Penn.
But, according to Denstedt, the team is not worried.
"We're going in there with confidence," she said. "We had a good game against Drexel [Wednesday]. We're excited. We want to finish the softball season with a high note."
