HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College softball team (7-12 1-1 CC) split a doubleheader with McDaniel (9-12 1-1 CC) Saturday, as the Fords opened conference play on Class of '95 Field.
Haverford 8, McDaniel 7 (9 Innings)
Lauren Martin was the star of the show for the Fords in game one, recording three hits that included two doubles and one home run. Maddie Etheridge tallied three hits in the ball game as well, while Tessa Pearlstein racked up two RBIs.
The Scarlet and Black climbed onto the scoreboard first, as Martin ripped a homerun, to give the Fords an early 1-0 lead. The Green Terror answered with a roundtripper of their own, as Makayla Calamita went yard off Rachel McQueen, to level the game at 1-1.
Neither team would cross the plate again until the top of the seventh, when McDaniel looked to capitalize off of a bases loaded situation. With the bags juiced and one out on the scoreboard, a costly wild pitch from McQueen plated Olivia Dresser, to give the Green Terror a 2-1 lead. Following a Calamita walk to load up the bases, Ashley Shawyer launched a double, scoring Mandy Butz and Bella Sylvester, as McDaniel took a 4-1 lead into the bottom half of the seventh.
The Scarlet and Black pulled one run back, after Grace Stowe knocked in Martin on an RBI-single, to trail just 4-2. After an Etheridge single, Sarah Fan took first of an error, as the hosts loaded the bases with no one out.
Pearlstein was able to score Stowe in the next at-bat, after a sac-fly scored the first-year infielder to pull Haverford back within just a one-run deficit, 4-3. Following an Addie Sapirstein fly out, Etheridge and Fan were able to advance a base each following an error that also saw Jocelyn Leal scurry over to first. With the bases loaded, Etheridge scored a much-needed run off a wild pitch to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings.
The Green Terror tacked on a run in the first extra inning frame, to set up a crucial bottom of the eighth. Abby Olivier started the inning on second base per the Centennial's extra innings' rules, and proceeded to steal third base during the bottom of the eighth's first at-bat. After Abby Litchfield went down swinging, Martin knocked Olivier in to tie the game yet again, as both teams headed to another bonus frame.
In the top of the ninth, Sylvester started on second base and moved to third on a passed ball. She came around and scored on the next at-bat after Calamita reached first base and then took second base off a fielding error from the Fords. Calamita advanced to third off a wild pitch, and came around to score from a Paytyn Hazelton groundout to short.
With Haverford down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Fords found themselves in a bases loaded, no one out situation, following singles from Etheridge and Kyra Van Denburgh. Pearlstein was able to score the lead runner Stowe, on an RBI groundout to help the Scarlet and Black pull within just one run, 7-6. After Sapirstein went down on strikes, Leal chopped a ball to shortstop, as Calamita elected to throw home to try and throw out a racing Van Denburgh. The first-year infielder was safe, as the ball got away from the McDaniel catcher and Etheridge came flying around third, sliding home for the walk-off victory. Once the dust from the slide settled, Haverford found themselves claiming the 8-7 extra-inning victory.
McDaniel 8, Haverford 5
Game two saw Mia Kessinger pace the Fords in hits with three, while Lauren Martin and Kyra Van Denburgh both totaled two. The Scarlet and Black saw four different players record one RBI each, while five different Haverford players scored at least one run.
McDaniel kicked off game two plating three, after a series of wild pitches, to take a comfortable 3-0 lead into the bottom half of the opening frame. Kessinger leveled the game in the bottom of the first, after Abby Litchfield reached first base due to an error by the Green Terror.
The Fords followed the scoring up in inning number two, after three RBI singles (from Tessa Pearlstein, Jocelyn Leal, and Kessinger) gave the hosts a 4-3 lead. Following another quiet frame for McDaniel, the Fords added another insurance run in the third inning, after Van Denburgh plated Grace Stowe, to make it 5-3 Haverford.
Anna Putnam tacked on a run for the Green Terror in the fourth, scoring Calamita with a one-run knock, before the visitors put up a three-spot in the fifth inning, to take a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
An RBI single to the left side of the field from Calamita increased the McDaniel advantage to 8-5, as the hosts trailed the Green Terror by three runs with two innings to go.
Unfortunately for the Fords, as the temperature got colder, so did their bats, as two scoreless frames gave McDaniel the 8-5 win in game two.
The pair of games served as Haverford's annual Play with Pride Game, celebrating LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Haverford Athletics and the broader College community.
Next up for the Scarlet and Black is another Centennial Conference doubleheader, as the Fords travel to Chestertown, Md. to challenge the Shorewomen of Washington College on Tuesday, April 2. First pitch of game one is slated for 3 p.m.