The Penn softball team had dug itself into a little hole during the second game of its 7-2 and 8-6 doubleheader losses to Lehigh.
Unable to chip away at a 5-1 third-inning deficit in the second game, the Quakers (12-8) badly needed an offensive spark.
The bases were loaded as senior Kaelin Ainley stepped to the plate after a Teresa Leyden single up the middle, an error by Lehigh pitcher Tiffany Curtis left Stephanie Reichert safe on first and Julia Cheney walked.
Ainley took two quick balls and swung at a low pitch for a strike before ripping the next over the centerfield wall to tie the contest at five-all.
"I actually looked at the scoreboard and we were down four," Ainley said of her hit. "So when I got to the plate, I was like, 'it'd be pretty sweet if I hit a home run.'"
But that was one of the only sweet spots for the Quakers yesterday in a contest where the Mountain Hawks (12-12-1) had answers to every Penn challenge.
The Quakers' party was spoiled in the very next inning. Lehigh's Alisha Gonzales answered with a three-run homer of her own, putting the Mountain Hawks up 8-5, a deficit the Quakers would never overcome.
"It just wasn't there for us today," Ainley said. "I think any other day we would have it."
The first half of the twin bill didn't go any better. Lehigh took a 4-0 lead in the third inning on a wild pitch and a double from the Hawks' Heather Hamasaki.
A two-run fourth inning for the Quakers was countered by an identical two-run fifth for Lehigh.
Coach Leslie King blew through her pitching staff that game, using three of her four go-to pitchers.
Casey Hare only lasted 2.1 innings, Erin Boyle managed 1.2, and Olivia Mauro gave up six hits and three earned runs in her three innings.
Emily Denstedt pitched the entire second game for Penn, giving up three runs in the first inning and 11 hits on the evening.
The pitchers "weren't as sharp as they usually are because they were tired," King said. "The ball just doesn't break when you're tired."
The staff has seen a great deal of action recently, with the team playing their third doubleheader in as many days due to a rescheduled game.
Denstedt did work through her early-inning struggles, making adjustments that gave King the confidence to keep her in for the remainder of the game.
"I pushed harder and just used my fingers more," Denstedt said. "I spun the ball more."
King was willing to let the losses slide after her fatigued players pulled off a four-game sweep of Columbia.
"Our focus is the Ivy play, that's where our energy is focused."
