HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team swept the Centennial Conference weekly honors with Sara Tauriello taking home pitcher of the week accolades, while Jill Schnall was named the player of the week. Tauriello and Schnall led a 7-1 week for the Fords as Haverford officially clinched its spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament for the third straight season.
Tauriello's weekly honor is the third of her career and first since the 2013 season. The junior started each game one during the Fords' busy week of doubleheaders. She threw a complete game during three of those games, ceding the circle just once with an 8-0 lead after four innings against rival Swarthmore. In addition to the combined shutout against Swarthmore, Tauriello spun her second shutout of the season and fifth of her career in the Fords' 9-0 win against Arcadia.
During her 4-0 week, Tauriello recorded a 0.64 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 22 innings of work. She allowed just one extra base hit as opponents batted just .169 against the left hander. Tauriello opened her week with a complete game victory against Ursinus during which she allowed just one run. She capped her stellar week in the circle with a five-hitter against first-place McDaniel, temporarily tying the Fords and Green Terror atop the Centennial Conference standings.
Climbing her way up the Haverford record books, Tauriello already ranks first in program history in career ERA (1.37), opponent's batting average (.202), strikeouts (242), and strikeouts per seven innings (7.04). The junior is currently 10-1 on the year with a 1.29 ERA.
Schnall's player of the week accolade is the second of her career. Her first honor came during the 2014 season when she was named co-player of the week. Schnall batted .500 for the week with a .708 slugging percentage during the Fords' most recent eight-game stretch. She recorded a hit in each of the eight games, driving in 13 runs during that time. In addition to three multi-hit games during the week, Schnall scored seven runs.
Her most memorable hit of the week came when she drove in the eventual game-winning runs during the bottom of the sixth against McDaniel. With the Fords trailing 1-0, Schnall drove the left centerfield gap to give Haverford a 2-1 lead that it would not relinquish. Her double against McDaniel was her final of five doubles on the week.
A senior, Schnall is batting .357 this year with a .452 slugging percentage. She is tied for the team lead with eight doubles and ranked third on the Fords with 22 RBI. The second baseman is currently ranked second in program history with 14 home runs. Her career slugging percentage (.485), RBI (80), runs scored (88), total bases (174), and on-base percentage (.404) also rank among the program's top 10 all-time.
Softball currently sits at 22-7 overall and 11-3 in Centennial Conference play. The Fords are just one game off the pace of first-place McDaniel heading into the final week of the season. Haverford will travel to Alvernia on Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader. The team closes out the regular season with a Centennial Conference doubleheader against Gettysburg at 1 p.m. Saturday will also be Senior Day for the seven members of the graduating class.