Cambridge, Mass. - The Harvard softball team will start its 2023 campaign this weekend, traveling to Rock Hill, S.C. to compete in the Winthrop Garnet and Gold Tournament hosted by Winthrop University. The team will face off against LIU, Winthrop, Fordham and North Carolina Central University in five games from Friday, Feb. 24 to Sunday, Feb. 26. 

Harvard's first day of competition will feature a doubleheader with a game against LIU at 10 a.m. followed by Winthrop at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24. On Saturday, Feb. 25 they will play another doubleheader with Fordham at 10 a.m. and Winthrop at 3 p.m. The final contest of the weekend will be a single game on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 9:30 a.m. against North Carolina Central. Live stats will be available for the games against the host University, Winthrop. 

What to Know

• Harvard softball landed at no. 2 in the Ivy League preseason poll. The Crimson, which earned three first-place considerations, tallied 110 points total, finishing just behind reigning Ivy League Champion Princeton (13 votes, 125 points.) 
• The Ivy League runner-ups from the 2022 campaign return nearly all of its offensive production and pitching staff. Harvard is slated to return 90.2 percent of its stolen base total from last season, 86.5 percent of its doubles, 85.8 percent of its runs, 84.7 percent of its hits, 80.7 percent of its RBI and 75 percent of its home runs. In the circle, the Crimson returns its top five pitchers from '22 based on ERA and also welcomes back 274 of 276 of its innings pitched (99.3 percent), 140 of 141 of its strikeouts (99.3 percent) and 100 percent of its victories (22 of 22).
• The Crimson is coming off a successful 2022 season, in which Harvard finished the year 22-20 after advancing to the Ivy League Playoff series and finishing second in the league behind Princeton.
• Harvard will be captained by seniors Brianna Jewett and Kaitlin Lampson and junior Lauren Bobowski. Bobowski was an All-Ivy First Team selection while Lampson garnered All-Ivy Honorable Menton honors at the end of the 2022 season. 
• Head Coach Jenny Allard will enter her 27th season at the helm of the Harvard softball team after being inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame in December 2022. 
• Harvard will look to take the lead in the all-time series against LIU, a series that currently sits tied at 2-2. The last time the two teams met up was Feb. 22, 2019, a game in which the Crimson fell 0-2 to LIU.
• Harvard leads Fordham 4-1 in the all-time series, with the most recent matchup on Feb. 22, 2020 resulting in the Crimson's one loss, 3-2. 
• Harvard will meet North Carolina Central for the third time in series history as both teams have won one game in the past. Harvard won the last matchup on March 1, 2019 with a 19-0 victory, 
• The Crimson will meet the Winthrop Eagles for the first time in ten years this weekend. The Eagles lead the two-game series 2-0 over Harvard as they won the most recent matchup 5-4 on March 10, 2013. 

Up Next

Harvard will spend another weekend on the road at the Red and Black Softball Tournament hosted by Gardner-Webb from Friday, March 3 to Sunday, March 5.