The weather was poor, but the softball team refused to allow rain to spoil its Sunday afternoon.
With solid pitching and offensive production spread throughout the lineup, the Bulldogs (2-1) defeated Southern Connecticut State University 11-6 in a 14-inning scrimmage at DeWitt Family Field.
With the victory, the Bulldogs improved their fall season record to 2-1. Yale may have one final game this preseason, as it is not yet clear whether Saturday’s rainout against New Haven will be rescheduled within the next two weeks.
Assistant Coach Barbara Reinalda said the win — which saw every position player reach base — boded well for the team’s success this year.
“Overall, it was a good contribution by everybody,” Reinalda said.
Still, while every position player reached base Sunday, Reinalda said improving the Bulldogs’ performance at the plate was critical to the team’s success in the spring season.
“If we can score some runs, we’ll do very, very well in the Ivies,” Reinalda said.
Yale’s young pitching staff — featuring only one returning starter from last year’s team — performed consistently over the 14 innings of play. Beth Pavlicek ’06 and Peggy Hunt ’06 each pitched four innings, while Ashley Linnenbank ’06 and returning starter Jillian Miles ’04 went three innings.
Captain Jesseka Bartholomew ’03, a first-team All-Ivy selection at third base last year, said the team played very well considering that Coach Andy Van Etten was still tinkering with the lineup.
“For us to produce 11 runs while experimenting — that’s quite a compliment,” said Bartholomew, who finished second in the league in batting average last year. “Although we did produce a lot of runs, we need to learn to hit in situations [with runners on base].”
The third baseman said she expects the battle for the league championship to be wide-open this year, with Yale contending with Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell and defending champions Princeton for the title. The Bulldogs will begin the regular season on March 1, 2003 against Marist.
Bartholomew said the Bulldogs need to create a cohesive team out of their “raw talent” if they are to win their first Ivy title since 1993. Yale tied for sixth in the league last year, finishing with a total record of 24-21.
“As a team we have a lot of things to work on, but we also have a lot of time,” she said.