HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team clinched its spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of rival Swarthmore on Tuesday evening. The Fords (19-9, 9-5 CC) took game one by a 7-3 score before Briana Quinn fired a 3-0 shutout during the second game to officially seal a ticket to the postseason tournament.
In the opening game, Haverford was down 1-0 after an unearned run before putting pressure of its own on the Swarthmore defense. Temma Levis started the Fords' second inning with a double into right centerfield while a wild pitch and subsequent walk to Ashley Sisto put runners on the corners. Sisto swiped second base and both she and Levis ended up scoring on that play following a pair of Garnet errors. Alex Craig then reached on a dropped ball in the outfield, while Nicole Swisher got an base via a single before Jessica Koshinski drove in both of those runs to make the score 4-1.
Swarthmore rallied back with four straight singles in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. However, Emma Souter picked a runner off at third to start the first of three straight outs in that inning to escape further damage. Haverford never trailed after its four-run second inning as Souter led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run. Her fourth long ball of the season cleared the left field fence to make the score 5-3. Haverford got another run in that inning as Koshinski worked a bases loaded walk to force in a run after singles from Rachel Wolfson and Swisher were sandwiched around a walk to Craig.
That cushion was more than enough for Levis who retired 13 of 14 batters starting with her escape in the fourth inning. The Garnet got a pair of two-out singles in the seventh, but Levis got the final batter to fly out to right and secure her 11th complete game in 16 starts. Levis now holds a 9-4 record this season.
In game two, Quinn picked up right where Levis left off as she threw her first collegiate complete game shutout in the second half of Tuesday's doubleheader. She did not walk a batter and allowed just one extra-base hit over her seven innings of work to record her fifth victory this season. The complete game effort was her third such game this season.
Haverford backed up that fine pitching performance with a run in the second, fourth, and sixth innings. Craig beat out an infield single in the second to open Haverford's scoring as Wolfson scored the game's first and eventual winning run. Craig started the fourth inning with a double into the left centerfield gap and came around to score after a Garnet defensive miscue. Playing a part in all three runs, Craig then singled back through the middle in the sixth inning to score Sisto who had just tripled during the previous at-bat. Craig finished game two with a 3-for-3 day at the plate to go along with her two RBI and one run scored.
Softball has now made the Centennial Conference Tournament in five of the past six seasons and eight times overall in school history. The Fords are currently third overall in the Centennial Conference standings and just one game behind second-place McDaniel heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Haverford will travel to Westminster, Md. this Saturday to meet the Green Terror for a 1 p.m. doubleheader before beginning its postseason preparations.