FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Haverford College softball team (5-1) swept the day for the second day in a row, earning a pair of wins at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Myers. The Fords were lights out en route to a 17-2 victory against Pitt.-Bradford in five innings before defeating Grove City by a final score of 6-4. Haverford has now won five consecutive games after dropping the Florida opener.
Haverford 17, Pitt.-Bradford 2 (5)
A strong second inning from the Fords in game one put the contest out of reach early. After scoring one run in the first inning, Haverford tallied eight in the top of the second to take a commanding 9-0 lead. Mia Kessinger opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single to left field, plating Kaila Uyeda. Jocelyn Leal singled to center field to start inning two and later advanced to second on a wild pitch. With Leal on second, Carley Parsons doubled down the left field line for an RBI as Leal rounded third and made her way home.
Uyeda singled to center field to move Parsons to third then Uyeda later stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Sapirstein was up for the challenge, reaching first base on a fielder's choice as Parsons scored. A double steal followed as Sapirstein stole second and Uyeda stole home.
The scoring was far from finished with Abby Marquis up to bat. The senior doubled to left field, registering an RBI as Sapirstein scored. Sarah Fan stepped in to pinch run for Marquis and later scored due to a fielding error during Tessa Pearlstein's at-bat.
Nikki Kingsland's visit to the plate resulted in two more runs in the inning. The senior doubled down the left-field line, registering two RBI with Kaufman and Pearlstein scoring on the play. With Parsons back up to bat, Leal scored on a wild pitch, making it eight runs in the inning.
The game came to a close in the fifth inning after Haverford scored a combined eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings, six coming in the fifth. In the fourth, Kaufman scored due to a throwing error that left Kingsland safe at first. Kingsland eventually scored on another Pitt-Bradford error, increasing the lead to ten runs.
Trinity Sledge opened the fifth inning with a single and later scored after a Kaufman single to left field. Abby Olivier was walked earlier in the inning and she also scored, giving Kaufman two RBI. Abby Litchfield then reached first on yet another error from the Panthers as Kaufman scored on the play.
The final runs of the game came after a Carley Parsons triple for another two RBI, scoring Litchfield and Leal.
Susie Pieper registered her first win of the season after pitching four innings without surrendering an earned run, and contributing a strikeout.
Haverford 6, Grove City 4
In a much closer game two, Haverford still controlled the majority of the action. After holding Grove City to no runs in the top of the first inning, the Fords scored from a sacrifice fly from Kessinger to score Uyeda. Haverford extended the lead to two in the second inning thanks to an RBI single from Kingsland to score Leal, who was walked to start the inning. Grove City pulled a run back in the top of the fourth, but the Fords scored another in the bottom of the frame.
Haverford seemingly had an answer for every Grove City run but was tested in the seventh inning, holding onto a 6-2 lead. Grove City worked hard, scoring two runs with two outs. With an opportunity to keep it going, the Fords eventually force the Wolverines batter to pop up for the game's final out. Haverford saw production from a variety of student-athletes, getting a hit from nine different Fords. Parsons paced the way with two hits, following up her two-hit performance against Pitt.-Bradford.
Rachel McQueen improved her record to 3-1 facing 19 batters in four innings of work and allowing just one earned run. Alexa Finkele was credited the save, pitching three innings while striking out one.
Haverford now returns for yet another doubleheader day, taking on John Carroll (9 a.m.) and Alverno (11 a.m.) on the penultimate day of action at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.