CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard will close out its regular season Tuesday and Wednesday with a road series at Cornell. The three-game set is a make-up of the April 16-17 series that was postponed to due COVID-19 concerns and protocols within the Crimson program. The action on both days will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET with every game airing on ESPN+.
What to Know
- The Crimson will be back in action just two days after finishing its home series vs. Dartmouth. Both teams entered last weekend tied for second place in the Ivy League standings with Harvard emerging with a one-game advantage after taking two of three.
- Harvard is looking to secure its 15th straight season of at least 20 wins. The streak only counts completed campaigns.
- The series at Cornell will have implications for the Ivy League Playoff Series, which will be held at Princeton, May 13-14. After the Big Red faces Harvard, it will head to Dartmouth to finish the season. The Crimson and Big Green are competing for the right to face the Tigers.
- Harvard defeated the Big Green in the opener, 4-1, behind a strong effort from Anna Reed. Game 2 featured Dartmouth playing from ahead en route to an 11-6 victory. Then in Sunday's finale, Reed posted a complete game as the Crimson earned a 4-3 decision in eight innings.
- Reed was outstanding vs. Dartmouth, making three appearances, while posting a 2-0 record, a 0.98 ERA and eight strikeouts over 14.1 innings. She also limited the Ivy League's second-best offense (conference games only) to a .211 batting average.
- In Game 1 vs. Dartmouth, Reed went 5.2 innings, giving up zero runs, striking out three with no walks and allowing just three hits. In four of the first five innings, the sophomore sent the Big Green down in order and faced just one batter over the minimum in those five innings.
- In Game 3, Reed struck out five in her team-best eighth complete game. After allowing three runs in the first two innings, Reed put up six consecutive zeroes, including in the fifth inning when she took a line drive off the hip and stayed in the game. Two frames later, she escaped a bases-loaded situation with the score tied at 3-3, by striking out the Dartmouth hitter on three pitches. Then in the eighth, Reed got out of a two-on-and-two-out situation by inducing a line out.
- Morgan Melito, who was playing her final homestand of her career, went 6-for-10 at the plate with a 1.436 OPS and did not commit an error against the Big Green. In Game 1, she reached base in all three plate appearances (2-2, BB) and scored a run. In Game 2, Melito kept the Crimson in the game with a 3-for-4 effort with a run and three RBI. After her 1-for-4 performance in Game 3, the senior enters this week's series on a four-game hitting streak (8-13; .615).
- Ella Lee was impressive in her only start of the Dartmouth series, getting the nod in right field for the finale. The sophomore was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and a 1.750 OPS. Her three hits, four plate appearances and two runs were all career bests. Lee scored the Crimson's first run of the game in the third inning and then started Harvard's eighth-inning rally with a two-out double. The Manhattan Beach, Calif., native later scored the winning run from second base after Kaitlin Lampson blooped a pitch to second and beat the throw at first.
- Outside of Melito's three RBI, Madi Mays and Lampson both had multiple RBI for the series vs. Dartmouth. Mays had a team-best five RBI, while hitting .300, and Lampson tied Melito in the category and posted a 1.339 OPS.
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 656-498-3.
