CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard hits the road this week for a three-game Ivy League series at Cornell. The Crimson and Big Red will play a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Both days will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET with all three contests airing on ESPN+.
What to Know
- The Crimson is coming off a busy week, competing at home against Boston University and Penn. Harvard went 0-2 vs. the Terriers and overcame lightning, hail and rain to sweep the Quakers over three days.
- In Game 1 of Penn-Harvard, the teams played three innings with the Quakers set to bat in the fourth before lightning forced a delay. The squads returned to Soldiers Field and Harvard got the leadoff hitter to pop out before lightning imposed its will once again. Then the hail and rain engulfed Cambridge, suspending the Saturday game with Harvard ahead, 8-2.
- The Crimson and Quakers resumed Game 1 on Sunday and neither team crossed the plate as the 8-2 score held up. Harvard scored five runs in the first inning on Saturday, thanks in part to Trina Hoang's bases-clearing double, and three more in the third, with the help of Allison Heffley's two-RBI triple, to seal the offensive output from either team. With the win, Jenny Allard won her 650th career game.
- In the second game vs. Penn, it was all Harvard as it used a solo home run from Molly Dickerson in the third and three-run shot from Heffley to help the Crimson take a 5-0 lead. Dickerson later scored Heffley on a triple and Hoang knocked in another run with a single. Harvard ultimately won, 8-0, in six innings.
- Game 3 of the Penn series occurred on Monday and was the equivalent of a shootout in basketball as 19 total runs were scored. The Quakers struck first in the opening frame only to have Heffley connect for a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning. After Penn moved in front, 5-2, in the fifth, Harvard roared back with eight runs, including seven with two outs, to take a 10-3 lead. The Crimson added another run in the sixth, but Penn was not done, scoring three in the top of the seventh before Lindsay G. Poulos recorded the one-pitch save.
- Heffley and Hoang had strong efforts vs. Penn. In three games, Heffley hit .273 (3-for-11) with four runs, two home runs, a triple and eight RBI. Hoang, meanwhile, was 6-for-10 at the dish with three runs, a double, four RBI and 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. In Game 2, Hoang twice stole second base, allowing Allison O'Heany and Marissa Zheng, respectively, to score from third.
- Kendall Jean and Madi Mays were also productive in limited at-bats over the weekend vs. Penn. Jean saw action in all three games, starting once, and hit .400 (2-for-5) with a run scored and three RBI. Playing in two games with one start, Mays was also 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI.
- On the pitching front, Katie Arrambide posted a 1.56 ERA in two starts vs. Penn. The first-year threw a complete-game shutout in Game 2 and finished the series with three strikeouts over 9.0 innings. Anna Reed, meanwhile, made two appearances and collected two victories in the process. She, too, had three punchouts across 9.0 innings in the series.
- Harvard will take a three-game series winning streak into its weekend set at Cornell. The Crimson, however, dropped two of three in its last visit to Ithaca, N.Y., back in 2018.
- Harvard is looking to create separation at the top of the Ivy League standings. At 9-3, the Crimson enters this week's action one game ahead of Princeton (8-4).
- After its trip to "gorges" Ithaca, Harvard will play host to Merrimack College on Tuesday for a doubleheader. The games will mark the first-ever meetings between the schools.
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 652-496-3.
Up Next
Harvard returns to action on Tuesday, April 19, when it welcomes Merrimack College to Soldiers Field. The doubleheader is slated for a 3 p.m. ET start with both games airing on ESPN+.
