Softball claims first Ivy league victory

The Penn softball team ended a long and disappointing Ivy League season by earning its first league win in just under a year.

After losing yet another Ancient Eight doubleheader to Brown on Saturday, the Red and Blue were down to their last chance to remove their conference win total goose egg against Yale(20-20 overall, 5-7 Ivy League).

A pre-game ceremony honoring seniors Jen Moore and Lindsey Wagner got the ball rolling for the Quakers and gave them a much-needed emotional push.

And then sophomore Nicole Borgstadt -- Penn's staff ace -- took the mound. Nothing short of dominant, Borgstadt picked up a complete game one-run victory.

At the plate, it was Kristi Hackett who shouldered the brunt of the offense for Penn (14-33, 1-13). Going 2 for 2 on the afternoon, Hackett also stole two bases and scored the team's only runs of the ball game.

"We were fired up," Penn freshman outfielder Kim Le said. "We really wanted to come out and get a win for the seniors."

And the much sought after win finally came.

"We've been playing good all season long," said another one of Penn's young sluggers, Zahya Hantz. "We didn't want to end the season without a victory in the Ivy League. It was important for us to get one conference win."

The joy of their first Ivy League win was short lived, however.

In game two, Yale came out ready avenge its defeat in the first game. The Elis shelled Penn starter Rebecca Ranta, forcing her out of the game after scoring seven runs in the third inning.

Hantz soon became Yale's next victim. Unable to slow the Elis' bats, the freshman allowed 10 runs in her first inning of work.

Trailing, 17-0, the Quakers came out swinging in their half of the fourth, but the lone run they produced was insignificant in the final tally.

The Red and Blue had almost earned their first victory a day earlier.

Trailing Brown, 5-0, after four innings, Penn responded with a four-run rally. However, the Quakers could not get the tying fifth run acoss the plate and fell, 5-4.

The backend of the doubleheader was not much of a contest, however. Brown jumped out to a huge 9-0 lead and never looked back.

Penn seemed as though they might make a game of it, as they once again exploded for a four run inning.

However, Borgstadt had no answer for Brown, allowing three more runs over the next two innings. Penn failed to score again.

In the final two games of the 2002 season, the Quakers traveled to neighbor Drexel (8-30) and, once again, split a pair.

In the series' first game, the Quakers scored their lone run in the final inning to tie the game but could not hold off the Dragons in the bottom half of the seventh and picked up a tough luck, 2-1, defeat.

In the second half of the twinbill, Penn starter Borgstadt-- again on the hill -- spotted Drexel two runs in the opening frame. Borgstadt then settled in and didn't allow a run for the rest of the game.

The Penn bats came alive once again in the later stages of the game. This time however, the Quakers were able to score one run in each of the last three innings and earned themselves a 3-2 season-ending victory.

"Getting a win to end the season is definitely a confidence builder," said Le. "We have a lot of people coming back next year and ending on a positive note, with the win, will only make us better."

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