Lengyel | Softball primed for Ivy run
Softball isn’t always considered a banner sport, not drawing the massive crowds that football and basketball do perennially. But the Quakers have shown this year that they are no ordinary Ivy team.
Softball isn’t always considered a banner sport, not drawing the massive crowds that football and basketball do perennially. But the Quakers have shown this year that they are no ordinary Ivy team.
After finishing last spring 3-10 and 1-5 in conference play the Red and Blue knew that something needed to change. Enter former Michigan assistant coach Judd Lattimore.
There are plenty of reasons to be interested in spring athletics at Penn and to get out to at least one home sporting event in the next few weeks.
Wednesday, the Quakers travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to face Lehigh in their final nonconference matchup of the season.
After finishing last spring 3-10 and 1-5 in conference play the Red and Blue knew that something needed to change. Enter former Michigan assistant coach Judd Lattimore.
There are plenty of reasons to be interested in spring athletics at Penn and to get out to at least one home sporting event in the next few weeks.
Coach John Cole and his staff work towards the end of the year to put each player into one of several summer leagues around the country so they can improve throughout the offseason.
The race saw the Bulldogs taking home the Cup for the 37th time, with Penn coming in third in both the first and second varsity races.
The women’s team headed to Suffern, N.Y. to take part in the Roar-EE Invitational, finishing fifth out of 10 teams. The men had the same finish out of 14 teams at the Princeton Invitational.
Penn athletes responded to the individual meet by posting several new marks in the school record books.
Matched up with two of the toughest teams in the Ivy League at the Hamlin Tennis Center, the Penn men’s tennis team defeated No. 70 Dartmouth on Saturday before falling to No. 19 Harvard in a heartbreaker on Sunday.
Penn started the weekend off by splitting games with Princeton — winning, 10-9, and then losing, 5-3 — before sweeping the Jersey rivals the next day, 9-2 and 5-4.
Princeton took three of four from the Quakers in the weekend series, scoring seven runs in each of the four games.
A high school boat veered into the middle of Penn’s lane roughly 800 meters into the 2000m race, taking the No. 13 Quakers out of contention and helping ensure the fourth victory in a row for No. 15 Princeton with a time of 5:45.0.
Matched up with No. 70 Dartmouth, the Red and Blue (9-8, 1-3 Ivy) picked up their first Ivy League victory of the season, 4-3.
Though the board showed an 8-7 overtime loss for Penn (6-4, 2-3 Ivy) against Harvard (6-6, 2-2) on Saturday, the Quakers fought a good fight in the fourth quarter, tying the score at 7-7 before falling in extra time.
A trio of upperclassmen put together one of the most clutch performances in recent memory, leading the Red and Blue to a crucial 8-7 victory over Dartmouth.
I asked Robert Morris coach Andy Toole about and former Penn basketball player Andy Toole Thursday about his relationship with fired Rutgers coach Mike Rice did have a lot to say about the state of Robert Morris’s program following a memorable first-round NIT home win over Kentucky last month and why he never wants to go up against Penn again.