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Penn softball coach Leslie King spent the weekend across the Pacific Ocean in Wellington, New Zealand, where she was inducted into the Softball New Zealand Hall of Fame on Sept. 2.
That’s the case for the Ketring twins, Sarah and Kayla, of Penn softball. The freshmen duo from Moorpark, Calif. have taken the journey across the country to go to college and play softball together.
With just four games left of the 2017 softball season, senior right fielder Leah Allen is doing all she can to cement her legacy as one of the greatest players to ever grace Penn Park.
In a rollercoaster matchup between Big 5 rivals that saw three lead changes in the final three innings, the Quakers fell to Saint Joseph's by the score of 5-4 on a two run, walk-off single. This loss is the fifth straight and six out of seven for the Red and Blue (15-17, 5-7 Ivy), who were swept in a four-game weekend set at home against Princeton.
This one hurts. Penn softball entered this weekend's four game set with Princeton on the upswing, winners of four of their last five, and in prime striking distance, just one game back from the Tigers in the Ivy South Division. But now, it's all but over.
The bats are coming alive at the right time for Penn softball.
The Red and Blue defeated Drexel 10-3 on Wednesday and can now shift their focus onto the weekend as they await Ivy League-leading Princeton for a crucial set of doubleheaders around the diamond.
For Penn baseball and softball, Ivy League weekends are action packed marathons of excitement. A lot can change in four games in two days, so any weekday action is often a welcome break from the chaos of the conference title races. This Wednesday, Penn baseball and softball get such a chance.
Consider the stakes raised. After collecting a sweep of Yale and a split with Brown over the weekend, Penn softball has faced every opponent in the North Division and already has its eyes on the South Division title.
In two starts, one each against Brown and Yale, the senior ace threw two complete games, compiling a 2.00 ERA for the weekend. Penn (14-12, 5-3 Ivy) went on to win both games, beating Yale by the score of 4-1 and Brown by the score of 5-3, and Sargent earned the victory in both.
When it rains, it pours.
Penn Softball, like the thunderstorm that loomed overhead, couldn’t get anything going in a devastating 8-1 loss to Villanova.
The results last weekend showed the Quakers (11-11, 2-2 Ivy) can come back from a deficit late, but this game was over in a hurry.
With women's lacrosse ranked in the top 10 nationally, track and field seeing school records fall left and right, baseball having won ten of its last 11 games and more, the season has seen some supreme successes already — but only one athlete can stand out as the best. Our sports editors take to the roundtable to debate: Who is the Penn Athletics spring season MVP so far?
In game two with the squad down 6-5 with two outs in the seventh, Jurie Joyner hit a home run to bring the game into extra innings. This completely changed the dynamic and the Quakers (11-10, 2-2 Ivy) took back control of the game.
A lot can change in the Ivy League from year to year, and with last year's league leaders coming to town, it looks like Penn softball is on the better side of the new Ancient Eight order.
The Quakers begin conference play with contests against Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend.
They saved their best for last. After quite a lot of softball this weekend — back-to-back home doubleheaders to be exact — Penn softball finished in style.
With Penn softball's two star players, centerfielder Leah Allen and pitcher Alexis Sargent, both graduating at the end of the year, this year might represent Penn's last opportunity to utilize two program greats and capture an Ivy Championship.