HAVERFORD, Pa. – Opening up an eight game homestand, the Haverford College softball team got a standout performance from Kendall Chambers during game one Saturday against Franklin & Marshall. Chambers threw her first career shutout during a 5-0 win against the Diplomats (14-12, 2-6 CC). The Fords (14-16, 5-5 CC) got another strong start in game two, but six unearned runs paved the way to a 10-1 Diplomats victory.
On her way to improving her record to 4-2 on the season, Chambers scattered five hits and struck out five batters. Haverford's offense in the opening game came on a pair of home runs from Jessica Koshinski. Koshinski's home runs were her third and fourth of the season. The sophomore now has five home runs during her career.
Koshinski's first home run came in the fourth inning to crack a deadlocked game. Kaitlyn Guild walked to start that inning. She came around to score when Koshinski drove the ball over the right field fence to make the score 2-0. Just two innings later, it was a Guild single and defensive error that put two runners on for Koshinski. This time she homered over the left field fence for the eventual 5-0 final.
In game two, Haverford got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the first. Rachel Wolfson doubled into the left centerfield gap and was bunted to third by Julia Blake. She then scored on an RBI single from Guild to give the Fords the early lead.
Sara Tauriello got the start in the circle and retired nine of the first 10 batters she faced over the first three innings. The Diplomats put runners on second and third with two straight hits to start the fourth, but Tauriello could see her way out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts. However, a two-out error in the outfield allowed both of those runs to come home. The fifth inning saw Haverford commit three more errors as four runs came home.
Tauriello finished the game with 12 strikeouts in her five innings of work. She conceded just five hits with all six of her runs allowed coming in unearned fashion. Tauriello's 12 strikeouts rank as the fourth most in school history for a single game. She also shares the school record of 15 strikeouts in a game with teammate Emily Winesett. Overall, Tauriello now has three of the top five strikeout games in program history with the other two belonging to her senior teammate.
Franklin & Marshall's only earned runs on the day came in the seventh inning when the visitors pushed four more runs across to make the score a 10-1 final.
Softball will continue its home stretch this Tuesday with a Centennial Conference doubleheader against Ursinus. That twin bill is set to get underway at 3 p.m.