Ladies and gentlemen, they're out of the red.
For the first time in 23 years, the Penn softball team has guaranteed itself an overall winning record. Such an occasion should warrant a stylish win, and the Quakers did not disappoint.
Penn swept Cornell in a doubleheader yesterday at Warren Field, beating the Big Red 7-1 and 5-4 with equally solid pitching and batting performances.
Not only did the team improve to a 21-13 overall record (12-4 Ivy), but it also claimed its spot on top of the North Division.
"The first game we played was probably the best all-around softball we've played this year," coach Leslie King said. "We're peaking at the right time."
Penn dominated Cornell with an offensive onslaught the first time around yesterday, despite the shutout that the Quakers had suffered at the arm of the very same pitcher, Jenn Meunier, last weekend.
Junior Annie Kinsey, who was recently named Ivy League Player of the Week for a second time this season, cashed in big for the Red and Blue as she homered in the first game and brought in the winning runs in the second. She had three runs batted in and went 1-for-4 and 2-for-3.
"In the second game we knew that they were going to come out firing even more," Kinsey said, referring to Cornell's pitching. "We knew we had to win both in order to get ahead of them."
"We did a really nice job of adjusting to" Meunier, added King. "Annie is just an awesome hitter. [She's] performing really clutch for us right now."
Sophomore pitcher Emily Denstedt went the distance for Penn - twice - pitching two complete games to improve to 11-7. In the first game Denstedt gave up only five hits in seven innings, and followed through with a perfect last two in Penn's nail-biting second win.
Cornell had the game tied up at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Penn freshmen Keiko Uraguchi singled, followed by Kinsey's double to put the Quakers ahead a run going into the seventh.
For coach King and the Quakers, 23 years without a winning record had just been too long.
"It's huge," Dentstedt commented. "This was our goal at the beginning of the year. It's quite satisfying. It gives us that confidence coming into our last weekend of conference games with Princeton, a big rival."
"I'm really excited for the team, particularly the senior class, who have been working hard for four years for this," said King.
"Whatever comes after now is just cream."
For Penn, getting there has been simple enough - over the Big Red and into the black.
