CLERMONT, Fla. - It was a successful opening day for the Haverford College softball team as the Fords registered a pair of non-conference wins during spring break action at Hancock Park in Florida. Haverford took down Salve Regina University, 6-3, and then capped off the undefeated day with a 7-3 win over Simmons College.
Elizabeth Newman got the Fords (2-0) started as she led off the bottom of the first with a single through the left side. Newman advanced to second on Julie Garlick's sacrifice and then came home on Dayle Comerford's groundout to shortstop.
After the Seahawks (1-3) tied the game in the top of the third, Haverford went ahead once again with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
Newman drove home the second run with her second single of the day in the bottom of the fourth. Garlick's single up the middle then plated Jill Schnall and Newman.
Schnall's two-put single in the fifth accounted for the Fords' final two runs of the game as Miwa Wenzel and Lauren Touey came around to score.
Salve Regina put two on the board in the top of the seventh before Haverford closed out the season-opening victory.
Newman, Comerford and Schnall tallied two hits apiece as the the Fords finished with 11 total hits in the opener.
Senior Claire Fitzgerald (1-0) allowed just four hits and one run over four innings of work to earn the win in the circle. Classmate Brittany Stevenson picked up the save.
Haverford then had to rally past Simmons (1-1) in the nightcap as the Sharks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
Newman continued to provide a spark at the top of the lineup as she led off the bottom of the first with a single and then came home on an RBI-single by Comerford.
Schnall gave the Fords their first lead in the contest when she came up in the fourth with the bases loaded and delivered an RBI-single that led to three runs.
Haverford added to its advantage in the sixth when Newman drove home Schnall with a double. Then Touey notched a double of her own in the seventh to supply the Fords' with their final two runs of the night.
Newman, Touey and Stephanie Wolfson each went 2-for-4 in the game while Schnall finished 2-for-3.
Jen DiCandilo, Emily Winesett and freshman Kendall Chambers also registered a hit in the contest.
Chambers (1-0) recorded her first collegiate victory with five strikeouts in five innings while Winesett struck out three in the final two innings of the game.
Haverford returns to action on Tuesday with a 5 p.m. game against Wheaton (Ill.) College followed by a contest against Wittenberg University beginning at 7 p.m.