HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College softball team (4-0) swept Widener (3-2) in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon, at Class of '95 Field on the Haverford campus. The contests were the first home games of the season for the Fords. Coach Kate Gatti earned her 99th and 100th career coaching wins in the sweep over the Pride.
Haverford 7, Widener 3
Jocelyn Leal proved to be the game one hero, driving in two RBI, while going 1-for-4 from the plate. Also fueling the offense in game one Mia Kessinger, who went 2-for-3 from the plate, collecting a stand-up double and triple, scoring one run. In the pitcher's circle, Rachel McQueen collected her second win of the season, throwing five innings, giving up five hits, three earned runs and five walks, while striking out five.
McQueen got tagged for two runs in the top of the first, following a two-run single from Alyssa Gomez, before the Fords answered back in the bottom of the second with RBI knocks from Abby Litchfield and Lauren Martin to even the game up at 2-2.
In the bottom of the third, the Scarlet and Black took the lead, as a throwing error on a Kamaha'o Bode steal, scored Mia Kessinger, to give the Fords their third run of the ball game.
Following another quiet inning from McQueen in the top half of the fourth, Haverford then broke the game wide open, putting up a three-spot on Widener's Bella Smith to take a commanding 6-2 lead. With runners at second and third, Leal reached on a fielder's choice to third base, advancing Maddie Etheridge to third, while Grace Stowe crossed the plate, extending the Fords' lead to 4-2. Following a ground out from Bode that pinballed around the infield, Etheridge scored her first run of the game, to tack on the host's fifth run of the game. In the very next at-bat, Leal came around to score on a wild pitch, furthering the Haverford lead to 6-2.
After McQueen secured a double play for the Fords in inning number five, the Pride got a run of the Scarlet and Black's Kaleigh Bodak in the sixth inning, following a Julia Yogis groundout that scored Kaelin Kuester, to bring the Haverford lead down to 6-3.
Haverford got one back in the bottom of the six, as Leal smoked a single up the middle off Hallie Wiener, to drive in Martin, cushioning the Fords lead to 7-3.
A game-ending double play in the top of the seventh helped Bodak secure her first save of the season, as Haverford claimed game one 7-3.
Haverford 8, Widener 0 (5 Innings)
First-year Lauren Lamme shined in game two for the Fords, collecting her second shutout victory of the season, after dealing five scoreless frames, where she surrendered just three hits and struck out five. Offensively, Martin led the way, going 1-for-3 from the plate and scoring two runs, while Bode, who went 1-for-2 with a run, slugged a triple, coming around to score off a throwing error from Widener's shortstop.
After a 1-2-3 top of the first from Lamme, Haverford put up two quick runs on Caitlyn Katchur in the bottom half, following a sacrifice fly from Kessinger and a triple from Bode, who advanced home on a throwing error by Taylor Bell.
Lamme continued to mow down the Pride for the next three innings, before a six running fourth inning gave the Fords a massive 8-0 lead. Coming in as a pinch hitter for Kessinger, Abby Olivier came around to score after Kyra Van Denburgh reached first base on a fielding error by the Widener second baseman.
The sophomore then crossed home plate following a single from Addie Sapirstein, who advanced to second and then third off a throwing error by the left fielder for the Pride. Sapirstein then easily scored off an RBI knock from Grace Stowe, to push the lead up to 5-0, before an RBI-single from Etheridge scored Stowe for the Fords' sixth run of the game. Etheridge eventually scored the seventh run off a wild pitch from Wiener, before an RBI single ripped up the middle by Leal scored Martin for the eighth and final run.
Despite Gomez reaching third base with one out in the top of the fifth, Lamme caught a pop-up to the pitcher to seal up a 8-0 shutout victory for the Scarlet and Black.
Following the two-game sweep over Widener, Haverford will head out to California for a 10-game Spring Break trip, where the Fords will first take on Chapman in Orange, California for a two-game clash on Tuesday, March 11. The first pitch of game one is slated for 3:00 p.m. PDT.
