Batswomen Deal Tufts a Jumbo Defeat

MEDFORD--Shhh, be quiet.

Don't start a panic, but...wild elephants are loose in Medford.

Well, okay, perhaps that's a little sensationalist.

Suffice it to say that Jumbo pitchers had some major control problems yesterday--and as a result, the Harvard softball team paraded to a 10-3 victory over Tufts.

And of those 10 Crimson runs, eight were the direct result of Jumbo errors and walks. Three errors and 13 walks to be precise.

"I don't like to score runs on walks when we still haven't exploded at the plate," Harvard Coach John Wentzell said. "We're still looking for that big offensive display, but it makes it tough when their pitchers don't throw strikes. It's hard on the hitters."

Although yesterday's contest marked the Crimson's second-highest run production for the year--the squad scored 12 runs against Vermont two weekends ago--it showcased just five Harvard hits.

Last Sunday, when the batswomen (now 8-4) faced three-time defending league champion Princeton in a twinbill, four-hit and five-hit efforts resulted in a double defeat.

But yesterday, five hits was more than enough for victory, considering the opposition.

"The [difference in] competition is night and day," Wentzell said. "Princeton proved to be the best team we've faced so far."

And Tufts proved to be one of the worst.

The Jumbos wasted no time in digging their own graves, spotting the Crimson to a quick three-run lead in the top of the first.

After Harvard's first three batters reached base, freshman center fielder Elizabeth Crowley picked up an RBI with a single off Tufts pitcher Tami Geanes. Jumbo left fielder Kathy Durga bungled the pick-up, bringing home the Crimson's second run.

Just two batters later, with a pair of runners on, Gerri Rubin's routine grounder to third turned into Tufts error number two and Harvard run number three.

The Jumbos nibbled back with lone runs in the second and fourth off Crimson hurler Janet Dickerman, leaving the batswomen with a somewhat precarious 3-2 lead.

But come the top of the sixth, all sense of risk evaporated.

Geanes threw 30 pitches.

Three were good for strikes.

The other 27 were good for six walks and a sacrifice bunt, forcing a shaken Geanes off the mound in favor of reliever Meredith Woods.

Crowley proceeded to knock her second RBI single of the afternoon, before Woods finally retired Gia Barresi to end the inning--just 10 batters and four runs after it started.

Tufts retaliated somewhat in the bottom half of the frame, as Woods scored from third on a delayed double steal. What a prospect: the Jumbos merely had to retire the Crimson in the top of the seventh to escape with their honor.

Easier said than done.

Woods walked five batters, and Harvard batted around again, scoring three times, to up its lead to seven runs.

And Dickerman closed the door in the bottom of the seventh to pick up her first victory of the year against one loss.

THE NOTEBOOK: The Crimson hosts a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Cornell, a club team not officially part of the Ivy League, comes to Soldiers Field for a 1 p.m. start tomorrow. The batswomen then face the University of Maine in a Sunday afternoon twin-bill...Dickerman scattered eight hits over seven innings, striking out two while walking three...Mary Baldauf, Lisa Rowning and Mary Sheehan each walked twice for Harvard...Jumbo first baseman Kris Herman walloped a mammoth home run in the second for Tufts first tally.