Diving catches as the ball moves deep into foul territory.

Three hits out of the park.

Good, solid pitching.

A Division II opponent.

Usually, those elements translate into a dominating performance by a Harvard softball team.

But yesterday, in Harvard's doubleheader against Bryant, they were a part of a luke warm at best performance by the 3-11 Crimson. The team could muster only a split against Bryant, winning the first game, 5-4, and dropping the second, 9-6.

In the first game, Harvard's star was undoubtedly junior Elizabeth Walker, Harvard's starting pitcher. In addition to faring well on the mound--she issued only one walk, while striking out two in the game--Walker proved mighty with the stick. She led off the second inning batters with an outside-of-the-park home-run, breaking the 1-1 first inning tie.

"My arm has been bothering me a little, but it loosened up as the game went on," she said. "It helped being out in our own field."

Sophomore Danielle Feinberg followed Walker's hitting example. In the third inning, she parked the ball on the Kansas side of the fence for a two-run homer. The bat connections continued into the fifth inning when yet another home run trot was made by senior Christine Vogt, bringing the score to 5-1.

Bryant would not relent, however. In the last inning the squad staged a dramatic comeback, scoring three runs to bring the margin to one, 5-4.

But the Crimson was saved with the late-game heroics of sophomore shortstop Amy Reinhard. In the bottom of the seventh with two out, a 5-4 score and another Bryant run imminent, Reinhard made a dramatic diving catch well past the third-base foul line to truncate Bryant's efforts.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, though, the momentum of the first game was not carried over into the second contest.

With Crimson junior Jana Meader on the mound, Harvard pulled ahead 5-1 early in the game, but again Bryant stormed back, this time to take the game.

Taking advantage of some good hitting and a number of Harvard defensive errors, Bryant went up 6-5 in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Harvard tied the score but was unable to hold on. Bryant surged ahead to a 9-6 victory.

"We basically beat ourselves," Vogt said. "Jana [Meader `95] pitched great. We just weren't hitting well and were committing lots of errors."