Softball Splits Twinbill with League Power Cornell

For the Harvard softball team, Saturday brought the chance to see how it would measure up against the league’s top dog.

As it turns out, it’s a pretty even match.

The Crimson (9-15, 3-1 Ivy) and defending Ivy champion Cornell (15-8, 3-1) split a twinbill at Nieman-Robison Field, with the Big Red outhitting Harvard in an 8-4 win in the afternoon’s first game.

But led by co-captain Margaux Black’s 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, the Crimson returned the favor in the nightcap, coming home with the 7-6 victory—and the early lead in the Ivy League North.

“Today we were really happy to split,” sophomore pitcher Rachel Brown said. “We learned the hard way last year that every game counts—even the ones that are out of [division].”

HARVARD 7, CORNELL 6

When an uncharacteristically rough start from Brown put Harvard in a 6-3 hole after three innings, things weren’t looking good for the Crimson.

Enter Black.

The co-captain held off one of the league’s most potent offenses to give the Harvard bats enough time to win the game.

“I had a really rough start, but Margaux Black…she had it in her back pocket,” Brown said. “She had my back and she picked me up. It was such a great day for her.”

The Crimson came back with three runs in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Jane Alexander sparked the rally with a double to left center, moving freshman pinch runner Ashley Heritage to third. Senior Jessica Pledger plated Heritage, and freshman Jess Ferri brought Alexander around with a double to center.

Co-captain Melissa Schellberg, who is also a Crimson sports editor, put the third run on the board with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Sophomore Whitney Shaw put Harvard on top for good with two outs in the fifth, launching a ball over the left-field fence—the first baseman’s second homer of the game.

From there, Black cruised, retiring the last eight batters in order to get her first win of the season.

“Cornell has some great hitters, and they won’t back down,” Black said. “They pushed us, we pushed right back, [and] we showed heart. We were great in a lot of areas that second game.”

Shaw got things started in the first with a three-run bomb to center that plated senior Stephanie Krysiak and junior Ellen Macadam, who reached base on back-to-back singles.

CORNELL 8, HARVARD 4

The Big Red notched its third Ivy win in the afternoon’s first game, pounding rookie pitcher Ferri in an 8-4 victory.

“After the first game, we were bummed,” Black said. “We shouldn’t have lost that game.”

Cornell put three runs on the board in the third off a pair of singles, a hit batsmen, and a pair of errors from catcher Pledger.

The Big Red tacked on another pair in the fourth on pinch-hitter Erica Gaeta’s two-run longball.

But Harvard rallied to make things interesting in the top of the fifth, scoring four runs to make it a one-run ball game.

Ferri helped her own cause with her first career homer, a bomb that scored Heritage and sophomore Jane Alexander. After junior Emily Henderson and Schellberg stroked back-to-back singles, Krysiak brought Henderson home with a base hit to center.

“I love watching this team hit, because batters one through nine, anybody can get it done,” Brown said. “I’m so excited when we get up to bat, and I feel sorry for the other team.”

But Cornell bounced back in the bottom of the inning with another two-run homer, this one off the bat of Ali Tomlinson. The Big Red added a final run in the sixth on a Devon March single.

Meanwhile, Cornell hurler Elizabeth Dalrymple, the reigning Ivy Pitcher of the Year, shut down the Harvard bats to preserve the win.

But in what could be a preview of the Ivy League Championship Series at season’s end, the Crimson feels confident about its position.

“In the first game, we didn’t play a team game,” Brown said. “To know that had we maybe not made those errors, we would have been closer in that game, definitely gives us confidence—especially because we’re hoping to play Cornell again.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.