After besting Ocean State rival University of Rhode Island in a doubleheader Tuesday, the softball team looked to carry its momentum into a pair of Ivy League North Division doubleheaders against Harvard over the weekend. The Bears (13-27, 3-12 Ivy) returned to the Brown Softball Field for the first time since April 13, but could not capitalize on home field advantage, dropping three straight games to the visiting Crimson (18-16, 9-6 Ivy).
Bruno opened the series Saturday with a 7-4 loss to the Crimson, despite holding a two-run lead going into the seventh inning. The Bears took an early lead after an RBI groundout from Cat Seitz ’19. After Harvard evened the score, Seitz responded in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single. With the score even again at two, Annie McGregor ’18 drove a two-run double to left center to push the Bears ahead in the bottom of the sixth, but Harvard sealed the victory with five unanswered runs in the seventh.
“We just couldn’t finish it,” Seitz said. “We still were right there in the last inning and couldn’t finish as strong as we started.”
Four Bears had multiple hits in the contest, and Brown held a 10-9 advantage in hits as a team.
After Brown honored the 1997 softball team for the 20th anniversary of its Ivy League Championship, officials decided to postpone the second game Saturday due to rain.
The Bears struggled to generate offense in Sunday’s games, dropping the first contest, 4-0. The Crimson pushed across a pair of runs in each of the first two innings and stifled Bruno at the plate. Brown was held to just two hits in seven innings by Harvard starter Taylor Cabe. Katie Orona ’18 threw a complete seven innings, surrendering four earned runs on five hits
Harvard took an early lead in the final game of the weekend, scoring two runs in the top of the second. McGregor put the Bears on the board with an RBI single, and Seitz knocked an RBI double into center field to tie up the score in the bottom of the third. The game remained tied until Harvard’s Maddy Kaplan doubled with the bases loaded to put the Crimson ahead by three. Despite three singles in the bottom of the sixth, Bruno could not catch up and ended the series with a 5-2 loss. Meghan Wimmer ’19 took the loss for Brown, throwing a complete game while allowing five earned runs on eight hits.
“After Saturday, we knew we could beat them because we were there in the seventh inning, and we just had little flukes on defense,” Seitz said. “Coming in (on Sunday), we had a ton of confidence that we could be right there with them again, and we showed that in both games up until the very end.”
Brown has been eliminated from contention in the North Division and will close its season this weekend against Yale. Brown will travel to New Haven for a doubleheader Saturday before returning home Sunday to play the Bulldogs in another doubleheader on Senior Day.
“I just hope we finish strong and finish strong together and give it all we have for our six seniors,” Seitz said.
