Two-Out Hits Lead Crimson Over Friars

Over the weekend, the Harvard softball team used great pitching and clutch two-out hitting to sweep four games against Brown. Yesterday, on head coach Jenny Allard’s birthday, it used that same formula to beat Providence 4-0 (20-18, 6-10 Big East), at Soldiers Field in Allston.

“We came out strong,” Allard said. “We’re playing with confidence, we’re swinging our bats, the pitchers were very effective on the mound.”

The Crimson (25-12, 11-5 Ivy League) led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third, when it managed to break the game open. With one out, senior shortstop Lauren Brown reached on an infield single. Freshman designated hitter Lauren Murphy and junior first baseman Danielle Kerper each followed with singles up the middle. After Friar sophomore starter Jennifer Maccio got sophomore catcher Hayley Bock to pop up, freshman third baseman Melissa Schellberg singled to left, scoring Brown and reloading the bases.

Next up was freshman right fielder Jennifer Francis, who blooped the ball into center field for a two-run single to cap the scoring in the game.

The Harvard pitchers made the lead hold up. Junior Shelly Madick went the first four innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out two.

She got into a little trouble in her final inning after walking the first batter, but got out of the inning with help from Schellberg at third, who made a diving stop for the second out.

“Our defense has been strong, we keep getting better and better and making the tough plays,” captain second baseman Julia Kidder said. “Melissa at third is solid and Lauren Brown made some key plays. It was really nice to see.”

Freshman Dana Roberts came in next inning and pitched the last three frames, allowing just a single in the seventh and recording two strikeouts.

“It was the right time to make the change and we had planned to split the games anyway,” Allard said.

Roberts recorded her team-leading fourth save of the season.

The Crimson’s first run also came with two outs. In the bottom of the first, Kidder led off with a walk. Brown bunted her to second and she advanced to third on Murphy’s single. The designated hitter then took second on a double steal attempt before Kerper grounded out. Bock followed Kerper with a base hit to left on a full count. Kidder scored, but Murphy was thrown out at the plate.

With the win, Madick improved to 12-3 on the season, with the 12 wins good enough for fifth in the Ivy League. Her 1.49 ERA tops the league. She was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week earlier in the day. Last week, she went 3-0 with two wins against Yale on the weekend and one earlier in a non-league contest against Quinnipiac. In 14 innings of work, she allowed just one run, which came against the Bobcats, good for a 0.50 ERA.

Harvard returns to action tomorrow at Boston College as it wraps up the non-league season before playing four games this weekend against Dartmouth to determine who wins the Ivy League North Division.

The Crimson leads the Big Green by just one game but isn’t ignoring tomorrow’s opponent, just as it didn’t overlook Providence.

“We are just as intent on winning these games as Saturday and Sunday because these games help us prepare for the weekend,” Kidder said.

—Staff writer Ted Kirby can be reached at tjkirby@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Julia R. Senior can be reached at jrsenior@fas.harvard.edu.