Cambridge, Mass. – The University of Pennsylvania softball team fell to Harvard 7-0, in the series opener at Soldiers Field.

FINAL: Harvard 7, Penn 0

After each starting pitcher started off with a 1-2-3 inning in their respective half of the first, the Crimson were able to get on the board in the bottom of the second. With one out, Finley Payne singled through the left side and stole second to put herself into scoring position. An opposite-field single by Maya Douglas put runners on the corners. Priyanka Kaul followed up with the third straight knock of the inning to bring in a run and give Harvard a 1-0 lead. A fielder's choice resulted in the second out of the frame, but runners were on first and third once again for the Crimson. Lael Ayala then pinch hit and singled through the right side, driving in a pair of runs to extend the lead, 3-0 after the end of two.

Harvard added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Kelly Zybura surrendered a leadoff walk to Savannah Fitzpatrick, who advanced to second on a grounder to shortstop. Kaul picked up her second base knock and second RBI after sending one through the 5-6 hole, making the score 4-0.

With two on and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Payne looped one into shallow left, scoring Lauren Bobowski from second for Harvard.

Olivia Szewczyk entered the circle for the Quakers in the bottom of the sixth and gave up back-to-back singles to begin the frame. Ayala drove in her third runner of the day with a single through the right side, pushing the lead to 6-0. Bobowski followed up with a knock, which loaded the bases with no outs. Sophie Sun laced one up the middle, scoring the seventh run of the game for the Crimson. Szewczyk got the final three outs of the frame, to limit the scoring to just two for Harvard.

In the top of the seventh, Sammy Fenton picked up the second hit of the day for Penn with a grounder up the middle, but a strikeout and ground out ended the game as the Quakers fell, 7-0.

Quaker Notemeal

• Chloe Lesko and Fenton had the lone hits for the Quakers, both had singles up the middle.
• In five innings of work, Zybura surrendered five earned runs on seven hits.
• In one inning of relief, Szewczyk threw 19 pitches, gave up five hits and two earned runs.

Up Next
The Red and Blue will look to bounce back with a doubleheader tomorrow, at Soldiers Field for the series finale. Game one is slated for a 12:00 p.m. first pitch with game two scheduled to start approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.