CLERMONT, Fla. – Playing its final games before returning north to Pennsylvania, the Haverford College softball team went out with a bang as the Fords' offense erupted for eight runs and 12 hits during an 8-1 victory against Saint Joseph's (Maine) to close its 10-game spring break trip to start the season. Haverford also showed offensive spark in Friday's first game with 11 hits during a 9-6 loss at the hands of Manhattanville.
It was a six-run inning that undid Haverford in Friday's early game. However, the Fords used the big inning to their advantage in the win against the Monks. Haverford had a hit in each of the first three innings against Saint Joseph's. However, it was six hits in the top of the fifth that led the way for the offense.
Emily Winesett, who also picked up the win in the circle during Friday's final game, started the fifth inning with a single. Alex Craig then reached on an error to put two runners in scoring position. Rachel Wolfson promptly took advantage of the defensive miscue with a two-run single into left field. Miwa Wenzel and Kaitlyn Guild also singled in the inning. Guild's base knock brought home another run, but the big blow was a two-run home run from Kendall Chambers. Chambers now has two home runs on the season.
Just one inning later, Chambers came back up and knocked in her third run of the game. Chambers finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate. Craig also scored in this inning as she led off the sixth with a single into right field. Haverford's final run on the afternoon came on an RBI groundout from Emily Gorman that scored Julia Blake. Blake tripled into right field with one out in the seventh.
Winesett picked up the victory in relief as she threw the final 5.1 innings and did not allow a run. She scattered six hits and struck out six batters during her second win of the season. Five different players finished with multi-hit games for the Fords.
In Friday's opening game against Manhattanville, it was Haverford that jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. That early advantage came courtesy of a two-run blast from Jessica Koshinski. However, six hits and one error just a half inning later turned out to be the Fords' undoing.
Haverford got another long ball, this time a three-run shot from Blake, to make the score 6-5. However, the Valiants answered that with three of their own runs in the sixth. Haverford started the seventh inning with a single from Guild and RBI double from Chambers, but could come no closer in the 9-6 defeat.
Softball will now return to campus this weekend and get set for a more regional schedule. Up first will be a pair of road trips during next week's action. The first of those two trips will be to Eastern for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 17 that is scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m.