Christina Khosravi is no stranger to walk-off wins. She did, after all, cap an extra-inning affair with a game-ending knock on April 2 against La Salle.
Yesterday, however, Khosravi's mere presence earned Penn a last-inning win.
With freshman Alisha Prystowsky on second and no outs in a 3-3 game, Drexel pitcher Ellen Boundy opted to intentionally walk the Quakers' slugging shortstop.
There was only one problem: Her deliberately wayward offerings were a bit too wayward, and after two wild pitches, Prystowsky crossed the plate to give the Red and Blue a 4-3 comeback win.
The Dragons had scored twice in the sixth inning to take the lead, but Penn's offensive onslaught in the bottom half tied the game again, 3-3, and set up the unorthodox ending.
"Our energy level definitely went up in the late innings," said Prystowsky, who was also 2-for-2 with a run batted in. "We got a lot of little hits."
Freshman Jessie Lupardus, who struck out eight Dragons in seven innings, checked off another win, coming out of the game with a 17-8 record.
Yet after this uplifting game one against their rivals from 33rd St., the Quakers could not build momentum, dropping game two, 7-4.
"They found the holes," Penn freshman pitcher Tory Satagaj said of her first collegiate start, a performance that came with its ups - a no-hitter until the sixth inning - and its downs - five earned runs in the sixth.
"It was partly my fault," she said. "I could have done a little better."
In Satagaj's first five innings, the Dragons (22-17) rarely made good contact, and when they did, the Quakers defense was sharp, scooping up slow rollers, making over-the-shoulder catches and providing excellent support for the freshman hurler.
"It feels good [to get a start]," Satagaj said. "My defense was awesome."
On the other side, Dragons pitcher Katrina Gaudier hardly had much help behind her. The team was charged with five errors, mostly in the infield, loading the base twice in the second game.
But in the sixth, the Quakers folded, as Drexel plated five on five runs, a walk and an error. The Red and Blue (22-20) were never able to regain the early 2-0 lead they had established on Kelsey Wolfe's two-run, fourth-inning single.
The Dragons then tagged reliever Emily Denstedt for a two-run homer in the seventh, putting the nail in the Quakers' coffin.
