Her pitching kept the game scoreless, despite Harvard's inability to score in the early innings. The team squandered two scoring opportunities, stranding two runners in the second and third innings.

In the second, sophomore Sarah Koppel led off the inning with a single. Koppel advanced to third after a sacrifice bunt by freshman Tiffany Whitton and a single by Monica Montijo, but she was stranded after senior Jessie Amberg struck out to end the inning.

Sophomore Cherry Fu reached on an error to lead off the third inning. Fu advanced to third on a double by Ghia Godfree. Once again, however, the team failed to capitalize on the opportunity, and the game remained scoreless going into the fourth.

In the fifth, with the rain threatening to end the game in a tie, Abeles crushed a two-out offering from Zitarelli to put the Crimson up by one. The clutch performance came just in time, as the game was called due to heavy rain the very next inning. The one-run margin proved enough to thwart the Big Red on its home field and give Harvard an important conference win.

The two teams will make up the second game of the doubleheader at a later date. The two games at Syracuse on Sunday were also cancelled and will be rescheduled.

The victory should give the Crimson some much-needed confidence for the remainder of the Ivy season. The team has struggled this year with tough pre-season competition, so Coach Allard is looking for some more veteran leadership down the stretch.

"It was a good win. We play a very tough schedule during the preseason, and it really prepares us for the conference schedule," Allard said. "We actually felt better-prepared for the game and the team came out really fired up and ready to play."