The worst losses are the games that slip away. It seems more like your opponent did not really win, they just did enough not to lose.
Fortunately in sports, a new season brings second chances and an opportunity at redemption for the ones that got away.
In its first home games of the season, the Penn softball team will get an early shot at payback when it hosts Delaware this afternoon for a double-header.
Last season the Blue Hens were victorious in all three games they played against the Quakers, winning by an overall score of 21-10. Delaware is also 7-0 against Penn the last three seasons.
But Penn attributes most of those losses more to an inability to hold a lead than an unbeatable Blue Hens team.
"It's something that's hard to put your finger on, because we match up very well," Penn coach Leslie King said of Delaware. "They've been one of those bogey teams that we just can't seem to find a way to beat."
Penn ace Emily Denstedt will have the first shot at breaking the cold streak, when the sophomore makes her seventh appearance in only the eleventh game of the season.
Over spring break in Orlando, Fla., Denstedt solidified her top role in the rotation, going 3-2 with a 2.50 earned run average at the Rebel Spring Games.
Senior Olivia Mauro will make today's second start, when she tries to maintain her team-leading ERA of 0.84.
So far the team's pitching has exceeded expectations for what seemed to be the Quakers' weakest link.
"I was very pleased with our pitching down in Florida. It was a bit of a question mark going down," King said. "I thought the staff all contributed and did a real nice job of containing the other teams."
The Blue Hens' pitcher who will most likely be in charge of taming the potent Quakers offense is senior captain Carolynn Sloat. In Sloat's first appearance against Penn last season, she pitched a complete game and gave up only three hits and no runs.
The next Penn-Sloat matchup also featured a complete game, but the Red and Blue were able to put up five runs on the right-hander only to see their lead and victory slip away in Delaware's four-run sixth inning.
The 10-woman senior class of the Quakers have three final shots at beating Delaware, and they intend to make the chances count.
"Those 10 seniors have never beaten Delaware . We'd jump out to leads and give those leads away," King said. "I've always felt this group was determined to beat that team and get over that bogey."
