After sweeping yesterday's doubleheader, 3-2 and 6-2, Harvard pitcher Shelly Madick gave Penn's Annie Kinsey an affectionate tap at the postgame handshake.
The two California natives began playing against each other in high school, competing on both school and travel teams.
But, recently at least, Kinsey has found herself on the wrong end of those gestures. After Madick defeated the Red and Blue in last year's Ivy League Championship Series, Kinsey called her to wish her luck in the NCAA Tournament.
And yesterday, Madick pitched just 3.1 innings in relief, but that was good enough to pick up both wins against Kinsey and the Quakers. Harvard (12-15, 5-3 Ivy) has now won five straight overall and six in a row over Penn (18-10, 5-3 Ivy).
"She's a really good pitcher - she's a gamer and goes out and gets the job done," said Kinsey, who added that she was surprised Madick did not start.
Yet the Quakers contributed far more to their own defeat than Madick and the rest of the Crimson did.
Penn had five errors - and one catcher's interference - in the double dip, several of which came at crucial times.
In game one, with nobody on in the bottom of the seventh and the score tied at two, Harvard's Melissa Schellberg hit an innocent grounder to third. One errant Taylor Tieman throw later, Schellberg was on second, and a single through the left side drove home the winning run.
In part two of the twin bill, the Crimson offensive floodgates opened on more defensive miscues.
Two singles - bloopers Penn coach Leslie King said should have been caught - the catcher's interference and a throw from centerfielder Keiko Uraguchi that wound up in the dugout plated one and left two runners in scoring position.
A walk loaded the bases, and then came the blast.
On what King called the only bad pitch out of Jessie Lupardus' left hand, Schellberg launched a three-RBI double to left.
It was a flat inside rise-ball, that wasn't high enough, either, Lupardus said.
"If that pitch doesn't move, it has the backspin on it, so it will go further," she said.
For the first time this season, the Quakers' freshman phenom started both games of the doubleheader.
Though she took both losses, she was her stellar self in the opener, allowing just one earned run while striking out a season-high 11.
Her game-two line was far less gaudy - five earned in 4.1 innings. King attributed it to fatigue and bad luck, but Lupardus said it was something else.
"Harvard was quickly making adjustments and forcing me to resort to every resource I had within my repertoire," Lupardus said.
King said that she tapped her ace for two starts because these games were so important.
But on a frigid New England afternoon when as many Quakers (five) had hits as had errors, not even Lupardus could save the day.
Once again, Madick walked away the winner.
