WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A no-hitter from Temma Levis highlighted the Haverford College softball team's action on Thursday in Florida. Levis completely shut down the University of New England in the Fords' second game of the day as they won by an 8-0 score in five innings.
Levis' no-hitter is just the fourth in program history as she joins Brittany Stevenson '14 (5 inning perfect game vs. Gwynedd Mercy in 2012), Claire Fitzgerald '14 (7 inning no-hitter vs. WAC in 2012), and Lisa Karmel '11 (5 inning no-hitter vs. McDaniel in 2009) as the only other pitchers in school history to accomplish this feat.
Starting off her day by retiring the first eight batters she faced, only a defensive miscue broke up her perfect game through three innings. She would quickly regroup in that frame to get the next batter to pop out on the infield. Levis ended up facing just one over the minimum as the University of New England drew a leadoff walk to start the fifth. However, that runner was quickly erased on a double play before the final out of that inning was recorded on a fly ball to left.
Interestingly enough, Levis was also the batter at the plate when the no-hitter became official as the Fords put the run-rule into effect during the bottom of the fifth. Nicole Swisher and Johanna Batterton drove in runs during the first two innings to put the Fords up early. Levis then started to do some damage offensively as she drove in two runs during the fourth while Julia Blake followed that up with a two-run blast over the left field fence.
Haverford worked three walks during the bottom half of the fifth already holding a 6-0 advantage. Levis put the capper on that run-rule victory as she drove in two more runs to put the Fords up by eight. Levis is now 4-0 on the season in her only four starts. Her ERA is a minuscule 0.58 over her first 24 innings as the junior co-captain has already pitched three complete games. Levis also finished this game with four of the team's eight RBI. Blake added two RBI and two runs scored, while Emily Reinstadtler scored three times in the victory.
Haverford's opening game on Thursday saw the Fords fall to Wisconsin Lutheran by a 6-3 score. Contrary to the majority of this trip, Thursday's early game saw the Warriors jump out to an early lead with three runs in the first inning. Wisconsin Lutheran also scored in the second and third innings to hold a 5-1 lead after three. Haverford's lone run during that time came in the second when Michelle Kaplan and Levis recorded back-to-back two-out singles. Kaplan eventually scored on an error in the infield.
The Fords were looking to rally in the sixth as Emma Souter started that frame with a double down the right field line, while Reinstadtler reached base on a throwing error. A fielder's choice loaded the bases with one and Levis delivered her second hit of the game to score two runs. However, the Warriors got back-to-back strikeouts to escape any further damage, leaving two Fords on base. Haverford finished the game with just one less hit than Wisconsin Lutheran and had two more runners on in the seventh with consecutive two-out hits from Souter and Marybeth Stone. However, a grounder to short sealed the early victory for the Warriors.
Having already won six of their first eight games in Florida, the Fords will look to add another exclamation point to their week with their final two games on Friday. The last day of games in Florida will be played at the DiamondPlex Complex with a 12:15 p.m. start against Carnegie Mellon, followed by a 2:15 scheduled first pitch on the same field against Wooster.