HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team certainly made the most of its last time up to bat during its doubleheader sweep of Neumann on Thursday. Pinch-hitter Johanna Batterton broke a tied game one as she singled home the winning run in the bottom of the sixth. During game two, Batterton nearly played the role of hero again, but did manage to tie the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh before Marybeth Stone delivered a two-out two-run walk-off single in the eighth inning.
In the 4-3 game one victory, Haverford took a 2-1 lead in the second inning. Marybeth Stone singled to get that frame started before Rachel Wolfson tripled over the right fielder's head to tie the game at one. Starting pitcher Temma Levis helped her own cause with an RBI to give the Fords a 2-1 lead. Levis also added an RBI in the third inning, this time scoring Wolfson after she had doubled with two down.
Haverford went to the bullpen in the top of the fifth inning, but the Knights took advantage of a Haverford error in the inning to tie the game at three. The Fords regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Ashley Sisto reached on a fielder's choice and was driven in by Batterton's pinch-hit single into the left centerfield gap. The Knights threatened by putting two on with back-to-back walks in the seventh, but Levis re-entered to get the final two outs.
Levis ended up saving a game that she started. She pitched a total of 4.2 innings and allowed just one earned run during that time while not walking a batter. Briana Quinn, who came on in relief, ended up with the victory as she went 2.1 innings and conceded just one hit and one earned run. At the plate, Wolfson finished the first game 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. In addition to her save, Levis was 2-for-2 at the dish with two RBI.
In a thrilling game two, it looked as though Haverford had things under control as the Fords were up 4-0 heading into the sixth inning before a wild finish. Nicole Swisher, Sisto, and Emma Souter drove in runs to stake the Fords to their early advantage as they scored in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Nevertheless, Neumann fought back with five runs during the top half of the sixth to take its first lead of the afternoon. The Knights made it a 6-4 lead for the visitors with an unearned run in the seventh, but Haverford did not go away quietly.
Wolfson started off the seventh with a double and came around to score on Levis' third RBI of the day. Julia Blake then walked before those runners were bunted into scoring position with one out. Batterton lifted a ball deep into the right centerfield gap, just missing a home run. That sacrifice fly was deep enough to score Sisto easily as Blake also tried to score on the play but was thrown out at the plate, leaving the game tied at six after seven innings of play.
Using the international tiebreak rule in the eighth, Neumann scored its runner placed on second with a sacrifice bunt and fielder's choice. Haverford also bunted its placed runner over to third, while a high throw allowed Phoebe May to also reach on her bunt attempt. After the Fords were called out of the box and a pop up on the infield put two away, Stone singled home both of those runs as the Fords stormed the field with an 8-7 victory.
Emily Reinstadtler picked up her first career victory in the circle with Thursday's game two result. Being taken out and re-entering later in the contest, Reinstadtler pitched a career-high 7.2 innings and did not allow an earned run as she conceded just four hits and also struck out four. .
Softball will be back at home this Saturday for a Centennial Conference doubleheader with first-place Dickinson at 1 p.m. Haverford has played two less games coming into this battle between the top two teams in the conference at the midway point of the Centennial slate.