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Penn softball hosts Columbia for the final game of the season. #16 Taylor Tieman Credit: Andrew Townley

To its list of offensive and defensive assets, the Penn softball team can now add the newest member of the coaching staff: pitching expert Lisa Sweeney.

A 2009 graduate of Lehigh University, Sweeney was one of the program’s best pitchers ever. She became the first player in Patriot League history to win four Pitcher of the Year awards, as well as both Pitcher of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season.

Following graduation, Sweeney stayed with the team as a volunteer assistant coach for the 2010 season. That summer, she played professionally in the Netherlands for the Dutch National Softball Team.

Luckily for the Quakers, this dedicated and talented coach joined the staff last week, filling a hole that has been vacant for the last three months.

“Things have been fantastic so far,” Sweeney said. “Everyone has been so welcoming, and coach [Leslie] King has been great, acclimating me to Penn and to Ivy League softball.”

Sweeney was also quick to point out how happy she is to be working with Penn’s pitching staff, which goes five deep.

She believes that one of the team’s greatest advantages is that “we have five different looks we can give a team at any time. We can use each pitcher’s individual strengths.”

However, the new coach also saw areas for the whole team to improve upon her arrival at Warren Field.

“We’ve played tough competition, which is a fantastic challenge early on in the season,” she said. “The good thing is that it’s exposed areas that we need to grow in.”

In the team’s first 12 games, the pitching staff has compiled a 5-7 record. The pitchers have posted a 6.11 earned run average and have allowed a total of 116 hits, compared to opponents’ 4.94 ERA and 97 hits allowed.

One way Sweeney would like to improve the pitchers’ performance is to “make sure [they’re] working the corner and keeping the hitters off balance.”

So far, the results have been encouraging.

Sweeney added, “It’s been great to see how responsive they’ve been to making those adjustments,” and she believes the team is ready to face her former team in Lehigh on Friday, a matchup rescheduled from Wednesday.

“I remember playing Penn very well,” she said, “Believe me, Lehigh always has circles on their calendar because we know it’s tough competition.”

The challenge for the Red and Blue will be to see how much they have learned from their recent skid — six straight losses after a 5-1 start.

“It will be a good mark for us,” Sweeney said. “We’ll really look to get a win.

“Just the desire for a win can take over in this type of situation.”

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