HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College Softball team (14-11-1, 2-1-1 CC) won one with another getting suspended due to darkness against Washington College (10-14-1, 2-1-1 CC) on Tuesday afternoon at Class of '95 Field. During a beautiful day on the Haverford campus, fans of both teams watched a day of fantastic playmaking ability. The Fords took game one by a score of 5-4 before game two was suspended at 4-4 due to darkness after eight innings.
Haverford 5, Washington College 4
The Fords handled business in game one and they have their defense to thank for that. It all started with Rachel McQueen who set the tone with a pitching clinic. McQueen earned the win tossing 6.1 innings with two strikeouts to improve to 6-6 on the year. Behind her was terrific middle infield play from Kaila Uyeda and Nikki Kingsland. Very few hits off the Shorewomen bats made it past the duo, but if they did, the outfield play of Addie Sapirstein, Maddie Etheridge, and Jocelyn Leal had things handled.
Last year's Centennial Conference Gold Glove of the Year winner, Uyeda, made some of the more difficult plays in softball look routine as she frustrated the players of Washington College. The visitors just couldn't seem to get anything past her. The Fords scored in the first inning due to a wild pitch as Sapirstein raced home from third to plate the opening run. The first-year center fielder got on base previously with a single to left field. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Haverford until the bottom of the fourth.
Brynn Balliet was in the circle for Washington College and put in a solid performance with six innings of work. Her impressive night took a hit in the fourth as the Fords tallied four runs. Back-to-back singles from Kingsland and Etheridge put Haverford in a good spot to plate some runs. Those runs came after Sarah Fan's RBI single to shortstop to score Kingsland. The Fords tacked on another behind a Sapirstein single through the left field. The third run came after a throwing error from the Shorewomen, allowing Fan to score. Haverford notched their final run of the inning and the game after a sacrifice fly from Mia Kessinger allowed Sapierstein to score.
Washington College battled back, scoring two runs in the fifth inning and later plating two runs in the seventh only to see a one-run deficit. Not panicking despite runners on first and second, Haverford had no plans to let the game go longer than it should.
The Shorewomen's Jenna Harper hit one right to Uyeda who tossed it to Kingsland. The senior then fired it to Kessinger, who made the grab and a tag, completing the double play and ending the game.
Haverford 4, Washington College 4 (Suspended after 8 full innings due to darkness)
Game two went much like game one. Both teams made outstanding plays in the outfield. At one point, Etheridge made an over-the-shoulder play for a key out late in the game before Alyssa Vieira of Washington College made a diving grab in center the very next inning.
Those two plays said all there is to know about the battle between these two conference teams. Alexa Finkele started in the circle for the Fords and pitched 6.1 innings while striking out two. For the visitors, it was Lexi Barnhart making things happen in the circle. She finished with five innings pitched, one strikeout, and one earned run. Haverford struck first after an Abby Marquis sacrifice fly to score Sapirstein. Again, the Fords tried to hang onto that one-run lead but Washington College snatched the lead from the hosts in the fourth inning.
Washington College tied the game in the third and a Gracelyn Goforth single through the right side scored Barnhart in the fourth inning. The visitors tacked on another run to take a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
The Fords pulled a run back in the bottom of the frame after a Leal single to score Sapirstein once again, her fourth run of the day. The hosts eventually tied the game in the sixth. Uyeda walked, while Etheridge and Abby Litchfield singled to load the bases with no outs. However, the Fords only managed one run as the inning came to a close, plating a run on a fielding error with Etheridge scoring on the play.
A run from Washington College knotted the game in the top of the seventh, as that was the last scoring action of the contest. With both teams then going scoreless in the eighth, the game was suspended due to darkness which currently leaves the contest as a draw.
Softball will now look ahead to their doubleheader with Gettysburg on Saturday, April 8. The first game of the Centennial Conference twinbill is scheduled for 1 p.m. with game two to follow shortly after.