Freshman pitcher Morgan Groom was one out away from a no-hitter on Saturday at Brown. The rookie had a no-hit shutout going through six and two-thirds innings when Bears’ pinch hitter Jamie Pospishil singled to left before the Harvard defense threw out the lead runner to end the game.

Travelling south to cloudy Providence, the Harvard softball team stayed hot, sweeping a doubleheader against Brown to extend its winning streak to a conference-high 10 games.

The Crimson (21-18, 11-5 Ivy) made easy work of the Bears (8-25, 2-14) in 4-0 and 3-1 victories that kept Harvard tied for first in the North Division before Sunday’s games.

Though Harvard only scored a combined seven runs, it benefited from two complete games from its freshmen pitchers. Morgan Groom shutout the Bears in the first game, and carried a no-hitter through six-and-two-thirds before giving up a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

Jamie Halula held Brown to one earned run on three hits, behind a solid defense that did not commit a single error on the day.

“Our infield defense was solid during the preseason,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said. “We had some lapses in there, but they’re bringing it back now. Our outfield has come a long way and has been much more consistent from the second half on.”

HARVARD 3, BROWN 1

Led by a productive top of the batting order, the Crimson scored early and was able to withstand a comeback attempt from the Bears, who tied up the game in the third.

For the second time in as many games, junior third basemen Kasey Lange led off the scoring in the first, plating senior designated player Stephanie Regan with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Halula gave up her only run of the day in the third, when freshman third baseman Trista Chavez hit a two-out solo homerun in the bottom of the third. The freshman walked the next batter but got out of the inning on a hard-hit ground ball to sophomore second baseman Katherine Lantz.

Although Harvard continued to get runners on base—leaving seven on in the game—the Bears were able to quiet the Crimson’s offense until the top of the seventh.

With one out, Regan doubled to left center. Junior captain and right fielder Shelbi Olson brought her home with a double of her own, and she later advanced two bases to score on two wild pitches, putting Harvard on top, 3-1.

“Given the events of this week and not being able to get any hitting in yesterday, we were mentally a little fatigued,” Allard said. “We knew Brown was a scrappy team, but we had confidence that we could score more runs than them. We just needed to stay with the process a little bit more.”

HARVARD 4, BROWN 0

Behind Lange—who leads the team in every major statistical category—the Crimson got on the board early and scored all four of its runs in the first four innings.

Regan got to the Bears right off the bat, finding left field with a lead-off double in the first. After Olson flew out, Regan took third on a wild pitch, and Lange picked up her first of three RBI with a double to the same spot as Regan’s.