KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Haverford College softball team erupted offensively on Tuesday en route to its second daily sweep in three days. The Fords (5-1) run-ruled Salve Regina (1-3) by an 11-1 score, thanks in large part to a 10-run first inning. Haverford came back with 11 more runs in an 11-7 victory over St. Norbert (1-4) for its second win of the afternoon.
Consistency throughout the lineup was key to the Fords' big inning as they did not record a single extra-base hit during their humongous frame. Two walks and a hit-by-pitch to the first three batters of the game set the table early. Marybeth Stone helped two of those runs come home as an error on the infield helped those runs scamper across the plate. Jessica Koshinski, Rachel Wolfson, and Emma Souter then had three straight hits. Koshinski loaded the bases with her knock, while Wolfson and Souter drove in one and two runs, respectively, to make the score 6-0.
Coming back around to the top of the order, Nicole Swisher reached for the second straight time with an RBI single. Julia Blake drove home two more runs after Ashley Sisto walked for the second straight time up to bat. The final blow of the 10-run inning came when Stone had another RBI hit. Haverford's final run of the game came in the fourth inning when Blake worked a one-out walk. A single by Koshinski put her in scoring position before Wolfson drove in that run with a double that reached the right field gap.
Haverford finished the opening game with 11 hits, led by Koshinski's 3-for-4 game at the plate. Blake scored a team-high three runs and was one of four players who drove in two runs as she reached base during each of her plate appearances. Temma Levis improved to 2-0 in the circle with her second complete game as she scattered six hits over her five innings of work while striking out three.
The Fords bettered all of their offensive totals during the second game against St. Norbert with 12 hits and 10 RBI. A high-powered first inning saw the Fords fall behind 3-0 in the top half before they loaded the bases in the bottom half with a walk to Swisher, and singles by Sisto and Blake. An error allowed Haverford's first run to come home while Stone came through with an RBI single during the next at-bat. Koshinski also had an RBI in the inning while Souter gave Haverford the lead for good with a two-out double into the left centerfield gap.
After game two starter Briana Quinn set St. Norbert down in succession during the second inning, Haverford was right back to its offensive ways with three more runs. Alex Craig stated that inning with a single and Swisher walked before those runners were bunted into scoring position by Sisto. A two-run double off the bat of Blake made the score 6-3. She then came around to score on Koshinski's second RBI hit of the game to make the score 7-3 after just two innings.
St. Norbert got within a single run after the top of the fifth, but Haverford broke out the long ball to secure the victory. Stone and Koshinski both set the table in the bottom of the fifth for Souter who blasted a three-run home run – the first of her career and first for the Fords so far this spring. The second home run did not take nearly as long to come for the Fords as Johanna Batterton followed that blast up with her first career home run during the very next at-bat.
Quinn picked up the win in the circle as she improved to 2-1 on the year. She pitched 4.1 innings before Batterton took the next two frames and allowed just one earned run during that time. With the tying run in the on-deck circle during the seventh inning, Levis came on for the final two outs, stranding both of those runners and notching her second save of the season.
With seemingly every player having a starring role in the offense on Tuesday, Koshinski led the team with five hits over the course of two games. Souter was one of three others with four-hit days as she drove in a team-best six runs during that time. Blake also had a combined four hits to go along with her team-best five runs scored and four RBI. Stone contributed four hits while scoring and driving in three runs. Swisher also scored four runs as she reached base four times.
Softball will have its scheduled off day Wednesday before the Fords come back for two more games on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday the team will resume action with Susquehanna at 9 a.m. and then play Wheaton (Mass.) in a scheduled 1:30 p.m. start.