HAVERFORD, Pa. – Playing in frigid temperatures that sometimes saw snow coming down during the games, the Haverford College softball team withstood the storm and picked up a Centennial Conference sweep of Ursinus on Tuesday afternoon. The Fords (15-7, 5-3 CC) now sit in third place in the conference standings after 3-2 and 4-2 victories on the Class of '95 Field.
In the opening game which the Fords won 3-2, Haverford got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Emma Souter started that frame off with a double down the left field line. A passed ball allowed her to move into scoring position before a bunt single from Ashley Sisto brought home that early run.
The Fords added two more in the fourth before holding off a late surge from the Bears. Jessica Koshinski started Haverford's half of the fourth with a leadoff single, while Souter doubled for the second time to put runners in scoring position. A sacrifice fly off the bat of Marybeth Stone made it 2-0 before a single back through the middle from Ashley Sisto provided the eventual game-winning run.
Temma Levis got the win in circle during game one for the Fords. She allowed just one earned run over her six innings of work. Levis retired 11 of the first 12 batters that she faced on Tuesday before stranding a pair of runners in the fourth. A pair of infield hits set the stage for Ursinus to push across its unearned run in the fifth while a solo home run to start the sixth made the score 3-2 heading to Ursinus' final at-bats.
The Bears got an infield hit to start the seventh, prompting a call to the bullpen. Johanna Batterton quickly locked down her first career save by striking out the first batter she faced before getting a pair of outs on the infield. Levis improved to 7-3 as she scattered eight hits during her six innings of work and did not walk a batter.
In game two, it was Ursinus that struck first. After a leadoff double, the Bears used a hit-by-pitch, bunt single, and another hit-by-pitch to force in a run. The Fords cut down a pair of runs at the plate on fielder's choices to put two away, but a single through the left side brought the second run of the inning in. However, Nicole Swisher was able to gun down the runner trying to score from second to escape that inning. Haverford answered those two runs in the bottom half of its inning with Swisher, Rachel Wolfson, and Koshinski all doubling to make it a 2-2 game.
Haverford pushed its game-winning run across in the following inning as Stone started that frame with another double. A sacrifice bunt from Sisto moved her over to third before an RBI groundout from Alex Craig gave the Fords a 3-2 lead. The Fords added an insurance run in the sixth inning as Sisto started the frame with a one-out single before scoring with the help of Ursinus' only two errors during the second game.
In the circle, Briana Quinn got the start and pitched the first two-plus innings before Batterton came on in relief for the second straight game. Batterton pitched the next 3.1 innings and did not allow a run as she would earn the win and improve to 4-0 in the circle this spring. Quinn then came back on to close out the game as she got the final two outs in the sixth and retired the side in order during the seventh to pick up her first career save in a game that she originally started.
Softball will be back at home this Saturday for Senior Day against Washington College. That doubleheader is slated to get underway at 1 p.m. Prior to that contest, the Fords will honor the three members of their graduating senior class: Alex Craig, Emily Gorman, and Jessica Koshinski. Haverford has also announced that the Dickinson doubleheader will be made up this Sunday with a 1 p.m. start in Carlisle.