HAVERFORD, Pa. – Jen DiCandilo knocked in three of Haverford College's five runs during its 5-1 Game 1 victory over visiting McDaniel College but the Green Terror rallied in the nightcap, 10-2, earning a split with the Fords in Centennial Conference softball action Saturday afternoon.
The split leaves the Fords at 5-11 overall and 2-2 in the league while McDaniel moves to 6-10 and 1-1.
After starting pitcher Lisa Karmel mowed down the McDaniel batters in order in the top of the first of Game 1, Elizabeth Newman opened the bottom half of the frame with a single to left field. DiCandilo stepped into the box two batters later and stroked a long ball over the left-center fence to stake Karmel and the Fords to a quick 2-0 lead.
Candice Smith led off the bottom of the second with a looping single over the shortstop but McDaniel starter Ashley Meister coaxed outs from the next two batters to nearly escape the frame without any harm. A Green Terror error allowed Newman to reach safely and moved Jordan Nieusma, who had come in to run for Smith, to third putting runners on the corners for Beth Davis.
Newman stole second then Davis singled to behind the second base bag scoring Nieusma and pushing Newman over to third. DiCandilo picked up her third RBI of the first two innings when she rapped a sharp single through the right side to plate Newman and extend the home team's advantage to four runs.
Laura Iwanyk's lead-off triple in the third led to another run that answered the Green Terror's lone run of the game in the top half of the inning.
Karmel (4-3) sailed through six solid innings scattering five hits while striking out four and walking none. At the start of the seventh she gave way to Maggie Cronin who pitched a scoreless inning to secure the win for the Fords.
In addition to DiCandilo, both Iwanyk and Marina Zambrotta collected two hits apiece.
In Game 2, McDaniel jumped on Haverford starter Claire Fitzgerald with a pair of runs in the second then added two more in both the third and fourth innings to end Fitzgerald's day.
Haverford got two of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth after Zambrotta worked for a one-out walk off starter Sara Erlichman.
Brittany Stevenson, who relieved Fitzgerald in the pitcher's circle during the fourth, stepped in and lashed a double into left field for her first collegiate hit. Zambrotta, now at third, came in to score on a Newman single to left, then Stevenson notched the second run of the inning when she crossed home on a Smith liner past the McDaniel third baseman.
The Green Terror put the game away, though, with four more runs in the sixth.
The Fords continue conference action with their next outing, a Tuesday afternoon home doubleheader against visiting Washington College.