HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team moved to a perfect 4-0 in Centennial Conference play on the young season with a sweep of Dickinson on the Class of 95 Field Sunday afternoon. The Fords (12-4, 4-0 CC) started the sweep of the Red Devils (12-6, 2-4 CC) with a 9-1 win in five innings. Haverford earned its second victory via a 4-2 decision.
The home team came out swinging Sunday with multiple runs in both of the game's first innings. Those leads were never relinquished or tied. In game one, Haverford started the scoring with a Jessica Koshinski single and Dayle Comerford walk. That put two aboard for Kristin Tatum, who blasted her team-leading sixth home run of the season. The Fords added their fourth run of the inning when Jill Schnall and Miwa Wenzel worked walks to keep the inning going before an RBI single from Julie Garlick.
Haverford added another run in both the second and third innings. The Fords made it 5-0 when Comerford lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Lauren Touey after she worked a free pass to start the inning. Dickinson scratched its only run of the opening game across in the top of the third, but Haverford responded in the bottom half. Wenzel worked a two-out walk and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Garlick drove home her second run of the game with a two-out RBI single that made the score 6-1.
The Fords put the run-rule in effect with a three-run fifth inning. Tatum walked and moved over to third on a double into the left centerfield gap off the bat of Schnall. Kendall Chambers also walked to put the third runner on base. After an out, Garlick came up with another RBI single to make it 7-1. An RBI groundout from Touey put the Fords one run away from winning. A single from Koshinski loaded the bases before Sarah Brody drove home the game's final run, just out of the reach of the third baseman.
Garlick and Koshinski each finished the first game with three hits. Tatum and Schnall also scored two runs in the victory. In the circle, Sara Tauriello was in control all game as she tossed a complete game three-hitter. She struck out five on the afternoon.
In game two, The Fords struck first when Koshinski led off the game with a double and scored on a pair of wild pitches. Tatum walked with two down and was also moved to second on a wild pitch. She was singled home by Schnall for the early 2-0 lead.
Haverford added insurance runs in the third and fourth innings. Schnall made it 3-0 with her second RBI of the game to score Tatum after she had reached on a one-out double into the right centerfield gap. Wenzel scored in the fourth after starting the inning with a single before moving up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Singles from Touey and Koshinski plated the Fords' fourth run of the game.
Dickinson did its only offensive damage of the game with single runs in the fifth and seventh innings. The Red Devils loaded the bases with one out in the fifth before starter Emily Winesett conceded one run on an RBI groundout. Schnall snagged a line drive at second base to escape further damage. Dickinson also had runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh, but the runner on second got caught in a rundown on a grounder to third. The runner on third scored on the play before the Fords tagged out the runner straying from second for the victory.
In the second game, Schnall finished with three hits. Both Koshinski and Tatum added a pair of base hits to the score sheet as Haverford pounded out 18 hits over the two games. Winesett improved to 8-1 on the year as she scattered four hits over her five innings of work. Chambers came on to pitch the sixth and seventh innings. She recorded her third save of the year. After a perfect sixth, she finished her outing with the just one run allowed in the seventh.
Softball will be back at home Tuesday for another Centennial Conference doubleheader against Muhlenberg. That twinbill is set to get underway at 3 p.m.