PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania softball team (11-10, 3-3 Ivy) heads to Hanover for a three-game Ivy League series with Dartmouth (3-17, 0-3 Ivy) this weekend. Originally scheduled to be played Saturday-Sunday, due to impending weather, the series has been moved to a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and a 12:30 single game on Saturday.
Previewing Penn
The Quakers fell, 5-2, on Wednesday to Rider, wrapping up their six-game home-stand at Penn Park. Penn won four of its six games during that stretch which included a series win over Harvard. The Red and Blue head back on the road for the first time in two weeks as they look to claim a spot atop the Ivy League.
Penn swept Harvard last Sunday to steal the series against the Crimson and improve to 3-3 in conference play. The Quakers' three wins are tied for the most in the Ivy League play along with Columbia (10-11, 3-0 Ivy) and Yale (8-16, 3-3 Ivy).
In the Harvard series, the Red and Blue exploded for twelve runs in the game two, resulting in a 12-2 victory. Freshman pitcher
Julia Longo went on to throw her first career complete-game in the series finale to secure the series win. Longo was awarded the Ivy League Pitcher and Co-Rookie of the Week after her performance in the circle.
Jessica England has remained consistent in the batter's box. The senior has reached base in 12 straight games. Her career high is 19 straight which she set last season. England (.415) and sophomore
Lucy Yang (.451) lead the Quakers in on-base percentage and each rank in the top-five in the Ivy League in walks (Yang 14, England 9).
Penn at Dartmouth – Saturday, 2 p.m. (DH) | Sunday, 12:30 p.m.
Series Information
All-Time series: Dartmouth leads, 32-29 | Last meeting: March 25, 2018 (Dartmouth, 3-1)
In last year's series against the Big Green, the Quakers took game one, 8-0, before losing game two, 4-2, to end day one's doubleheader. Penn took a 1-0 into the sixth inning in game three of the series on Sunday, but three Dartmouth runs put the Big Green in the lead and the Red and Blue were unable to put a rally together late in the seventh.
Last year's assistant for the Quakers, Patricia Cipicchio, is now an assistant coach at Dartmouth. The Big Green have losses to No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Oklahoma this season. Dartmouth took a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning against the Seminoles before eventually falling, 8-4.
In their first Ivy series of the season, the Big Green were swept by Columbia and they have won just once in their last ten games. This weekend will be Dartmouth's first games at home.
