After a season full of struggles and disappointment, Penn softball finally took home its first series win this campaign.
While many Quakers enjoyed Saturday’s Spring Fling daytime festivities on the other side of Penn Park, Penn (7-34, 4-14 Ivy) completed a near sweep of conference rival Brown (11-24, 7-11) — only dropping game two in extra innings.
The team started the series on the right foot with a 5-4 win in game one. Although the Bears scored first with two runs in the top of the third inning, junior outfielder Brianna Brown and sophomore infielder/outfielder Danica Larwill quickly responded with a double steal — bringing the score to 2-1.
The Quakers and the Bears continued this pattern for the next few innings. Junior infielder Sammy Fenton's hit scored Larwill from second base to tie the game at 2-2 in the same inning, but the Bears soon regained their two-run lead. Fenton continued to shine for the Quakers with a three-run home run to finally lead the Bears, and made a diving stop in the seventh to secure the victory for the Red and Blue.
Game two began eerily similar to game one. This time, the Bears led the Quakers 1-0 early, but junior infielder Dana Anderson quickly evened the score with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning. However, unlike the first game, the next couple innings held the score at a standstill — remaining at 1-1 until an RBI double put Brown up one.
Penn brought the score back to a tie after senior captain and two-way player Bella Fiorentino drew a bases-loaded walk. It wasn’t enough to secure the win, though, as Brown pushed the game to 10 innings and scored back-to-back doubles for the 4-2 win. Game two stretched into the longest game for the Quakers all season.
On Sunday, which was also Penn softball’s Senior Day, Fiorentino — who continues to play despite nursing an ACL injury — had a well-deserved Senior Day for the ages. In game three, she was perfect on the mound through six innings and scored the second of Penn’s three runs. The senior retired the first 18 batters she faced — just three outs short of the third perfect game in program history.
On offense, junior utility player Katie Reagan hit a flyout to left that scored freshman infielder Dani Freer from third base — securing Penn’s 3-0 lead in the fourth. Brown scored one run a couple innings after, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Red and Blue on its celebration-filled Sunday. Anderson continued her strong weekend as well, recording two more hits, along with senior catcher/outfielder Alyssa Pope.
The Quakers' 3-1 victory against Brown clinched their first series win this season, and fourth consecutive series victory against Brown.
Penn will look to continue this newfound momentum into this week’s upcoming game against Delaware State — their last home contest of the season — and into this weekend’s last Ivy League series against Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y.
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