KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Haverford College softball team collected two more wins on Wednesday as the Fords (5-1) returned to action under the Florida sun. Haverford jumped out quickly in game one, scoring four times in the first during an eventual 9-2 win over Keene State. With a quick turnaround against William Paterson, Haverford walked off with a 2-1 victory on a Julia Blake RBI double in the bottom of the seventh.
Blake closed game the Fords' day in dramatic fashion, but also got Haverford started with a walk to lead off against Keene State. An error allowed Ashley Sisto to also reach before Rachel Wolfson's sacrifice scored the first run of the game. Marybeth Stone kept the hits coming with an RBI double into left before Emma Souter cleared the bases with a two-run shot, her first of the season, giving the Fords a 4-0 lead before Keene State came to bat.
The Owls got two of those runs back in the bottom half of the first, but that would be their last offense for the day as Briana Quinn and Emily Reinstadtler combined to allow just four hits over the final six innings. Quinn got the start and went 5.1 innings to record her second victory of the season in as many starts. Reinstadtler came on for the final 1.2 innings of relief and allowed just one hit during that time, retiring the side in order during the seventh.
Haverford added two more runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to secure the comfortable victory. First-years Reinstadtler and Phoebe May drove in Haverford's runs in the fifth. Blake drove in Allison Mackenzie, who beat out an infield single, to start the sixth. Haverford later added two more unearned runs that inning via passed balls. In what was a very balanced lineup from a production standpoint, eight of the Fords' nine starters recorded a hit against Keene State. The only player not to do so still made her presence in the middle of the lineup felt with an RBI, run scored, and walk.
Locked in a pitcher's duel during game two against William Paterson, Haverford could not find a run despite six hits and a total of eight runners on base during the first six innings. Haverford starter Temma Levis was up to the challenge in the circle as she allowed just four hits and two walks over her seven innings of work, pitching her second complete game in three starts. A defensive miscue in the field allowed William Paterson to load the bases with one out in the fourth. However, Levis got the next two batters to escape that jam. The Pioneers scored their only run of the game in the sixth in unearned fashion as one of Levis' two walks all game came around to score.
The Fords had the potential game-tying run thrown out at the plate to end the sixth inning, but allowed just a two-out single in the top of the seventh to give them another chance with just the one-run deficit. Michelle Kaplan got that inning started with a single into right field. From then on, the hits kept coming as a single from Levis and RBI base hit from Reinstadtler tied the game at one. Nevertheless, the Fords were not done as Blake doubled into the gap to easily score Levis for the game-winning run. Haverford finished the game against William Paterson with 10 hits, including two each from Blake, Stone, and Levis.
Haverford will now have a venue change for its final two days of the spring break trip as the Fords will play at the DiamondPlex Field in Winter Haven on Thursday and Friday. Thursday's action begins with Wisconsin Lutheran at 10 a.m. before a 2:15 p.m. scheduled start against the University of New England.