HAVERFORD, Pa.- In doubleheader action at Class of '95 Field on Tuesday, The Haverford College Softball team (7-15-1, 1-4-1 CC) dropped game one to Swarthmore (14-5-1, 3-2-1 CC) by an 8-3 final before game two with the Garnet ended with the Garnet prevailing 12-7.
Swarthmore 8, Haverford 3
Addie Sapirstein, Jocelyn Leal, and Maddie Etheridge all led the hit department for the Fords with two hits each, while the Scarlet and Black had three players with one RBI each, and three players with one run scored each.
The Garnet got off to a quick start in game one, by putting up a two-spot in the top of the first. The pair of runs scored off of two wild pitches surrendered by Alexa Finkele. Swarthmore then followed up the two-run first inning with a two-run second frame, after a two-run single from Alex Simon gave the Garnet a comfortable 4-0 lead after two innings.
Swarthmore continued the offensive display in the fourth frame, as pitcher Emily Bertrand launched a two-run home run off the Class of '95 Field scoreboard to hand the visitors a commanding 6-0 lead.
Haverford showed some life in the bottom half of the fourth, tacking on two runs after a sac-fly from Kyra Van Denburgh and a one-run knock for Abbey Litchfield, as the hosts trailed by just four at 6-2 heading into the top of the fifth.
Two more runs from the Garnet in the fifth stemming from another Simon RBI and a wild pitch that scored Iris Barone, increased the visitors' lead to 8-2. The Fords pulled a run back in the bottom half of the fifth, as Etheridge plated Mia Kessinger off a sac-fly to left field, but it was too little late, as the Garnet claimed game one by an 8-3 final.
Swarthmore 12, Haverford 7
Mia Kessinger paced the Fords in the batter's box for game two, as the junior drove in two runs on the day. Addie Sapirstein and Grace Stowe scored two runs each, while Sapirstein, Maddie Etheridge, and Lauren Martin all swiped one bag each.
Just like game one, the Garnet got on the board first, as a Jordan Jackson RBI-groundout plated Iris Barone, to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. Haverford answered in the bottom of the second, after a Martin single plated Etheridge to level the game at 1-1.
The third frame saw Swarthmore put up a six-spot on the Fords, highlighted by a two-run double from Avery McClure, as the Garnet took a commanding 7-1 lead into the bottom of the third.
The Scarlet and Black then chipped away at the six-run gap, as Sapristein scored off a wild pitch and Jocelyn Leal plated Grace Stowe, to pull the hosts within four, 7-3.
After Rachel MCqueen quieted the Garnet bats in the top of the fourth, the Fords didn't lose a step at the plate, tacking on four runs to deadlock the game at 7-7. The momentous inning began after Martin got on base via an infield error, before scurrying over to second base following an Abby Litchfield single.
Martin came around to score off an RBI-single from Tessa Pearlstein, before a Stowe double pushed in another run. Down 7-5, Kessinger clobbered a two-run double to right center-field, knotting the game up at 7-7.
However, as darkness began to loom, neither team was able to cross the plate in the fifth inning, as the game was halted 7-7 after five innings due to darkness.
The game was resumed on April 18, with Swarthmore scoring twice in the sixth inning, loading the bases before plating the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Alex Simon. Swarthmore was able to tack on some insurance runs in the seventh frame with McClammy notching an RBI single ahead of Grace Taylor's RBI knock.