HAVERFORD, Pa. – In a matchup of the top two teams in the Centennial Conference standings, the Haverford College softball team crept closer to first-place Dickinson behind a 1-0 shutout victory from Temma Levis. However, the Red Devils got that game back with a 3-2 victory in nine innings during game two.
In pitcher's duel featuring two of the conference's best, the matchup lived up to the billing as Temma Levis allowed just four hits over seven innings and struck out two to run her season record to 10-2. Her counterpart, Madison Milaszewski, allowed five hits over her six innings of work, but the Fords were able to come up with the one and only run they needed during the bottom of the third.
Haverford got its first hit on Saturday as Ashley Sisto led off the third inning with a single into centerfield. Sisto went 2-for-2 at the plate in game one and was bunted into scoring position by Johanna Batterton before Nicole Swisher delivered a clutch two-out single to break the scoreless deadlock. With the lead in hand, Levis retired 13 in a row at one point from the second through fifth innings.
Dickinson was only able to put runners in scoring position on three occasions. One of those instances came in the seventh inning when the Red Devils stole second with one out before Levis got two ground outs on the infield to record her second shutout and ninth complete game of the season.
In game two, Dickinson jumped out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and third innings. Singles from Emily Reinstadtler, Swisher, and Marybeth Stone cut the lead to 2-1 after three innings. The Fords knotted the game at two-all with back-to-back doubles from Michelle Kaplan and Batterton during the bottom of the fifth.
Haverford finished the game with eight hits, compared to just six for Dickinson, and the Fords had a chance to take the lead in the sixth as they loaded the bases with two outs. Nevertheless, solid contact was from Batterton was nullified as the Red Devils' centerfielder flagged down that ball in the right centerfield gap. Dickinson went on to win the game in the ninth inning as its first batter reached on an error, was bunted into scoring position, and scored on a pair of wild pitches.
The Fords got another solid pitching performance in game two as Reinstadtler went four innings and allowed just one earned run before Batterton came on in relief and did not allow an earned run during her five innings of work as she conceded just two hits.
Softball will now cap its eight-game week tomorrow at Gettysburg. A rematch of last year's Centennial Conference Championship, Sunday's doubleheader is set to get underway at 1 p.m.