CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard continues its trek through its Ivy League schedule this week with a trip to The Empire State. The Crimson is set to play a doubleheader on Saturday at Columbia with the series finale slated for Sunday. Both days will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET and all three games will air on ESPN+.
What to Know
- The Crimson is coming off a tough week where it went 1-2 at home to Princeton last weekend and then had its Tuesday game at Boston College postponed due to inclement weather. Harvard and BC have not announced a make-up date.
- Harvard played at home last week for the first time since the 2019 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the Crimson took the field vs. Princeton in the series opener on March 26, it marked Harvard's first regular-season home contest since May 6, 2019 (vs. Cornell), and its first home game since May 11, 2019 (vs. Columbia in the Ivy Playoff Series).
- Anna Reed made two starts for the Crimson in the series vs. Princeton and was solid over 12.0 innings. In a 2-1 Game-1 win, Reed went 5.0 innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits. Then in the finale, Reed pitched a complete game, but gave up five runs (two earned) on five hits. For the series, she posted a 1.75 ERA and a team-high five strikeouts.
- As a pitching staff, Harvard was outstanding against Princeton, recording an ERA of 1.67 over 21.0 innings. Outside of Reed, Lindsay G. Poulos and Katie Arrambide had sub-2.00 ERAs (Poulos - 1.62, Arrambide - 0.00), with Arrambide notching one save.
- Offensively vs. Princeton, Allison Heffley, Lauren Bobowski and Morgan Melito were locked in at the plate, as the trio finished with batting averages above .300 for the series.
- Heffley was 4-for-7 at the dish (.571) to go with four walks and one run scored. Bobowski finished 4-for-10 with two runs and an RBI, and Melito was 3-for-9 with a team-best four RBI, three of which came on a bases-clearing triple in Game 2.
- Harvard is entering a month -- April -- that has seen it post gaudy numbers over the last 10 completed seasons ('20 was interrupted due to COVID-19; '21 was not played due to COVID-19). During the calendar's fourth month, the Crimson is 142-55-1 for a .720 winning percentage, dating to the '10 campaign. In those 10 seasons, Harvard has posted a winning record each time and logged double-digit victories in all but one year (9 in '18).
- Harvard is traveling to New York City to face Columbia for the first time since April 2018, when it took two of three games from the Lions. All three games were decided by two runs or less with the cumulative score favoring the Crimson, 12-11.
- The Crimson-Lions match-up is a rematch of the 2019 Ivy League Playoff Series, one in which Harvard swept, 2-0. The Crimson won the first game, 10-7, before earning a five-inning 11-1 victory at Soldiers Field.
- Harvard, which leads the series with Columbia, 31-13, comes into the weekend match-up having won five of the last six meetings vs. the Lions.
- This weekend's match-up features the two teams that many thought would vie for the Ivy League title once the preseason votes were tallied in February. Columbia, the preseason favorite, earned five first-place votes, while the Crimson picked up seven. The Lions garnered 113 points overall, with Harvard coming in with the third-highest total (104). Penn was second at 105 points (3 first-place votes).
- After this weekend's games, Harvard will return home to play host to Boston University on Tuesday, April 5. The doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. ET.
At the Helm
Jenny Allard is in her 27th season at the helm of the Harvard softball program and will be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in 2022. She has helped guide the Crimson to the last two Ivy League titles (2018, 2019) and owns a career record of 646-494-3.
Up Next
Harvard returns home on Tuesday, April 5, when it welcomes Boston University to Soldiers Field. The doubleheader is slated to begin at 3 p.m. ET with both games airing on ESPN+.
