Two years ago, the Penn and Harvard softball teams used a rain delay to stage an impromptu dance party. But this year's Quakers will go to Boston on Sunday with a very different mindset: Revenge for their 2007 Ivy League Championship loss.
Before Penn (16-8, 3-1 Ivy) plays two against the Crimson (7-14, 0-2), it will take a seven-hour bus ride to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth (4-15, 0-2) in a doubleheader tomorrow.
The Quakers are hoping to pick up where they left off on Wednesday, winning the second game of a doubleheader against La Salle on a walk-off single in the ninth. Penn also won the first game, 6-2.
Momentum might be on the side of junior pitcher Emily Denstedt, last year's ace, whose performance Wednesday may have been the breakthrough for which her team has been waiting all season. She came on in relief in the second game and pitched 5.2 scoreless innings for the win.
"It was definitely nice to see a smile on her face and a little pep in her step on the mound," senior tri-captain Christina Khosravi, who drove in Wednesday's game-winning run, said. "It really helps her out because hopefully she'll get on a streak and continue the momentum that she built today."
Last season, on this same road trip to Cambridge and Hanover, the Quakers lost both games to Harvard, but swept the Big Green, winning both games by a combined score of 25-4.
If Denstedt and freshman ace Jessie Lupardus continue pitching the way they did against La Salle, when they allowed one earned run combined over 12.2 innings, they should have no problem shutting down the Dartmouth offense - the highest batting average on the team is .234.
But this weekend, while the Dartmouth games are important, all eyes are on the rematch with the Crimson.
"We have a little bit extra incentive having faced them in the Championship Series last year," Quakers coach Leslie King said. "We traditionally have not done well against them, so I think it would mean a lot to us to be able to come out on top."
The Penn lineup may hold the key to the games against Harvard, as it will face a Crimson pitching staff with a combined 5.59 earned run average. Crimson ace Shelly Madick was last year's Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, but she is not enjoying the same success in 2008. She has allowed 72 hits over 59.1 innings, and is 2-9 on the season.
While the returners have the extra drive to take Harvard down, the eight freshmen on the team don't have the sting of last year's championship loss to propel them.
"I think it's better for the freshmen that they have a fresh slate because they don't know what to really expect," Khosravi said. "We're going to try to at least get some fire going in them and let them know what happened last year and that we're not going to let that happen again."
