PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania softball team (2-10, 0-0 Ivy) started their four-game home stand on a good note as they took down Lafayette, 6-3, on a cold, windy afternoon at Penn Park. The Quakers will continue the home stand over the weekend for their first Ivy League series of the season as they host Columbia on Saturday and Sunday. 

Inside the Numbers

* The Quakers begin the season 1-0 at Penn Park as Tabitha Dyer earned her first career win as a freshman. 

* As a staff, the Penn pitchers allowed just three runs all of which came in the sixth inning. 

* The freshmen duo of Abigail Abramson and Tabitha Dyer pitched a combined 6.2 scoreless innings allowing just one hit in 19 at bats with six strikeouts. 

* Dyer continues to impress not only in the circle, but also at the plate. She went two of three scoring one run. 

* In her first game of the season, Sarah Cwiertnia went three of four at the plate with one RBI. Sam Pederson lead the team in RBIs with two. 

* The Quakers out-hit the Leopards. The Penn bats had eight hits with a .320 batting average while Lafayette had just three hits for a .136 average. 

* The eight hits from the Red and Blue were the third most that they've had this season and the six runs were tied for second most in 2018. 

How it Happened

Returning home after a long road trip to Florida, the Quakers made their 2018 debut at Penn Park as they hosted Lafayette. A brisk 37 degrees with 19 mile per wind afternoon in Philadelphia, The Red and Blue may have wished they were back in the sunshine state. 

However, as they say, there is no place like home. Penn jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. They defeated the Leopards 6-3 to begin what will be a four game home stand at Penn Park. 

Lucy Yang, who has impressed at the plate this season, opened up the scoring. The freshman earned a walk on five pitches and then advanced to third on a Lafayette error. Sarah Cwiertnia let her presence known in her 2018 debut stealing second allowing Yang to come home to put Penn up 1-0 early in the first inning. 

Up 2-0, The Red and Blue loaded the bases in the fourth with Dyer, Jessica England, and Molly Oretsky getting on base. Abigail Abramson and Sam Pederson took advantage bringing in two runs on a single to left center and a sacrifice fly. Cwiertnia then hit a line drive down the middle to bring in a third run to give the Quakers a 5-0 lead. 

Lafayette made a small run in the sixth inning scoring three runs after Jennifer Brann took over in the circle and loaded the bases. Dyer then came back in and finished the inning with a nice head's up play. She fielded a grounder and instead of just throwing to first, the freshman threw home to catcher Corey Burrough who then threw to first to force the double play and retire the side still up 5-3.  

With a 6-3 lead in the seventh with a runner a third, it took just three pitches for Dyer to catch the batter looking and end the game with her fourth strikeout of the day. 

What's Next

The Quakers will host their first Ivy League Series of the season as they face Columbia. Penn will play the Lions in a double-header on Saturday starting at 12:30 before playing a third game at the same time on Sunday.