CLERMONT, Fla. – The Haverford College softball team dropped a pair of games on day two of The Spring Games held in Clermont, Florida. The Fords dropped a 2-1 game against Messiah before coming up short against University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 11-7.
Haverford started the day with a tightly contested matchup with Messiah. Much of the battle was on the mound. Haverford's Maya Casey got the start, battling pitch for pitch with Messiah's Lydia Collison. Casey pitched all seven innings, striking out five, giving up five hits and only one earned run. Collison pitched five innings, striking out five batters as well in her stint on the mound.
Haverford scored in the bottom of first to get things started. After Kaila Uyeda doubled down the left-field line, Nikki Kingsland grounded out with a bunt to advance Uyeda to third base. Eventually, Mia Kessinger would bring Uyeda home with an RBI sacrifice fly to right-field. The Fords held the 1-0 advantage until the fifth inning, where an RBI single from Ali Wagner tied the game up for Messiah.
The eventual game-winner came in the top of the sixth after a single down the third baseline would score Falcons player Hannah Dyer. Haverford's best chance to tie the game came with a runner on third with one out. As the second batter of the inning, Kingsland singled to third base. Later in the inning, Kessinger registered an extra-base hit to advance Kingsland to third. However, the Fords would come up empty in the next two at-bats. A scoreless seventh inning from both teams sealed the win for Messiah.
Game two was the complete opposite of the first, as there were plenty of runs in the matchup with UMass Dartmouth. The Fords put three runs on the board right out the gates. Uyeda opened play with a double to center field before being advanced to third and then scoring after a sacrifice bunt and fly. Next, Abby Marquis and Carley Parsons got on base with back-to-back singles with two outs. The Fords were then able to drive home their subsequent two runs after singles from Phoebe May and Michelle Kaplan.
Things were looking up until the Corsairs answered back with two runs in the bottom of the first. Then, Haverford answered with two more runs in the top of the second. With Uyeda and Kingsland standing at second and third, Marquis singled to center field to register two RBI in the inning. But, again, the Corsairs would answer back with runs. Dartmouth drove in two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score up at five.
UMass-Darmouth would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth after back-to-back singles with two outs. Not to be outdone, Haverford scored two runs on an error from the Corsairs. Marquis and Parsons scored from the error, and May was keen on extending the lead as she made her way to home plate as well. However, May would be tagged at the plate for the Fords' first out. Haverford would go into the bottom of the fifth, protecting a one-run advantage.
After scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth, UMass shut out the Fords in the following inning. UMass then would score three runs to claim the victory in the bottom of the inning. Abby Marquis finished with two runs scored, two hits, and two RBI. Mia Kessinger, May, and Kaplan finished with one hit and an RBI. Emily Reinstadtler started on the mound for the Fords, pitching three innings.
Softball will continue to search for the first win of the season on Tuesday when they take on Johnson and Wales at 3 p.m., followed by a contest with Penn State Berks at 5:15 p.m.