WESTMINSTER, Md. – A four-run fifth inning proved too much for the Haverford College softball team to overcome in the first game of the 2015 Centennial Conference Championship Tournament. The Fords (24-9-1) got two back in the bottom half of that inning with a two-run home run from Kristin Tatum, but the Bullets (29-12) ultimately held on for the 5-3 victory.
With the loss, Haverford drops into the consolation bracket of the double elimination tournament. To repeat as Centennial Conference Champions, the Fords will have to win four straight games over the next two days. Up first will be a matchup with Muhlenberg. The Mules lost to top-seeded McDaniel in the second game of the tournament. That elimination game is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Fords outhit Gettysburg by a 13-9 margin, but left 10 runners on base. Five different Haverford players finished with a pair of hits in the game. The Fords got the offense started early when Jessica Koshinski and Lauren Touey led off the Haverford half of the first with back-to-back doubles, but Gettysburg evened the score in the second. After a single and two walks to load the bases with no out, Sara Tauriello get the next two batters out without conceding a run; however, a two-out single knotted the game at one.
Haverford left the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth after three straight runners reached base with two outs in the frame. However, the Fords were unable to push across the go-ahead run. The Bullets promptly jumped on their next opportunity, using an unearned run and a pair of home runs to take a 5-1 lead.
A single from Dayle Comerford got Haverford's comeback bid started in the bottom half of the fifth. Tatum followed that up with a two-run home run over the left field fence. The Fords put a pair of runners on in the sixth, but a line drive double play ended that threat. Haverford also had a one-out single from Jill Schnall in the seventh, but she was stranded on the base paths.
Tauriello absorbed just her second loss of the season as she went 4.2 innings and allowed three earned runs. Emily Winesett came on in relief and threw 2.1 scoreless innings. The Bullets' Aileen Reilly picked up the win in her complete game effort.