HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team handed Washington College its first Centennial Conference defeat of the season with a 10-2 win (5 innings) in game one and had the Shorewomen (10-12, 3-1 CC) down 5-1 midway through game two before the visitors rallied for an 8-7 win and split of Tuesday's doubleheader.
In the opening game, Haverford (9-9, 2-2 CC) certainly made the most of seven Washington College errors in a 10-2 run-rule victory. The Fords led 2-0 after two and a half innings of play; however, a five-run third inning blew the game open for good.
The Fords got those two early runs on a bases loaded walk that was drawn by Jessica Koshinski and fielder's choice RBI groundout from Miwa Wenzel. Those first inning runs would nearly by enough as Sara Tauriello took to the circle for game one and scattered seven hits and two runs over her complete game effort. During her five innings of work, she struck out eight and allowed just one free pass.
In Haverford's five-run third inning, the Fords got things going with a double from Kristin Tatum and second RBI from Koshinski to make the score 3-0. Wenzel also delivered her second RBI in as many at-bats with a single through the right side, while Emily Gorman ripped an RBI double into left field that scored Wenzel. Julia Blake capped the inning that was kept alive by two Shorewomen errors with a two-run single into centerfield.
Washington College got its only two runs of the game in the top of the fourth, but Haverford scored three times over the next two innings to put the mercy rule in effect. Kendall Chambers delivered the RBI double in the fourth inning, while the Fords scored two runs on three errors in the bottom of the fifth. The game ended with a walk-off error that came off the bat of Wenzel.
In the second game, the Fords once again pounced on the Shorewomen's mistakes as they scored four times with the help of Washington College's only two errors during game two. Tatum and Koshinski drove in Haverford's first two runs with RBI knocks. The big mistake in the inning came on a two-run dropped fly in the outfield off the bat of Chambers that allowed the last two runs to scamper home.
After using extra chances at-bat throughout the evening, Haverford fell victim to this trend over the final four innings of game two. Chambers got the start in the circle and went 3.2 innings. She allowed just five hits, but four unearned runs came around during her time in the circle. The only time the Shorewomen scored without the benefit of an error came when they took the lead with two runs in the sixth inning.
Haverford put the potential game-tying run aboard in both the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, it was Wenzel that drew a one-out walk before being stranded at second. Blake kept Haverford's chances at a rally alive with a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh before a fly ball was flagged down in right centerfield to end Tuesday's second game in an 8-7 score in favor of the Shorewomen.
Softball will be back at home this Thursday as the team gets set to host No. 20 Rowan. The doubleheader will get underway on the Class of '95 Field at 3 p.m.