CARLISLE, Pa. — The Haverford College softball team (13-3, 1-1 CC) opened Centennial Conference play with a wild Sunday afternoon in Carlisle, Pa., splitting a doubleheader against Dickinson (5-7, 1-1 CC). The Fords claimed a 2-1 victory in game one before mounting a late-inning comeback in game two that ultimately fell short in extra innings.
Haverford 2, Dickinson 1
Kyra Van Denburgh led the way offensively, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Abby Litchfield and Addie Sapirstein each added two hits. Shelby Preisser and Jocelyn Leal each recorded an RBI for the Fords. In the circle, Kaleigh Bodak improved to 6-0 on the season, allowing one run on two hits across four innings while striking out two. Clarissa Smith earned the save, tossing three scoreless innings and striking out three.
Haverford struck first in the opening inning, as Van Denburgh came around to score on a Preisser groundout to second base, giving the Scarlet and Black an early 1-0 advantage. Dickinson answered in the second inning, when Amelia Plescia doubled to right field to plate Marah Goldman, evening the score at 1-1.
The game remained tied until the fifth inning, when Van Denburgh once again ignited the offense. After reaching base from a single to left field, she scored on a play in which Leal reached on a Dickinson error by the third baseman Plescia , giving Haverford a 2-1 lead.
From there, Smith took control in the circle for the Scarlet and Black. Entering in the fifth, she worked out of immediate trouble after singles from Jane Lloyd and Erin McMahon put runners on the corners, striking out Goldman before getting Abby Kohan to ground out to second.
In the sixth, Smith worked around a leadoff walk to Plescia, retiring Aubrey Coyle on a bunt and striking out Aubrey Gilbert and Alex Johnson to end the inning.
The seventh inning brought late tension, as Jane Lloyd drew a two-out walk and Goldman followed with a single, but Smith induced Kohan to ground out to shortstop to end the game and secure the narrow 2-1 victory for the Fords.
Dickinson 4, Haverford 3 (8 Innings)
Kyra Van Denburgh and Jocelyn Leal each collected two hits and an RBI to lead Haverford at the plate, while Abby Litchfield drove in two runs with a double. Addie Sapirstein also added a hit, as the Fords tallied eight hits in the contest.
Dickinson struck first with a two-run second inning, highlighted by an RBI single from Abby Kohan and an RBI double from Alex Johnson. The Red Devils added another run in the fifth inning on a Kohan RBI double, scoring Marah Goldman to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Scarlet and Black mounted a dramatic rally in the seventh inning. After a leadoff groundout, Clarissa Smith singled to spark the offense, and Sarah Fan reached on an error to put two runners in scoring position. Van Denburgh followed with an RBI single to bring Haverford within two, and Leal added another RBI knock to cut the deficit to 3-2. Moments later, Litchfield delivered a clutch two-run double to left field, scoring both Van Denburgh and Leal to give the Fords a 4-3 advantage.
Dickinson answered in the bottom half of the inning. After Jessie Sandusky was hit by a pitch and advanced to third, Goldman reached on a Haverford error, allowing the tying run to score and evening the game at 4-4.
In the eighth inning, Haverford was unable to capitalize with the placed runner, as Dickinson worked out of the jam to keep the game tied. In the bottom half, the Red Devils executed a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to third before Amelia Plescia delivered a walk-off RBI single to center field, scoring Kohan and sealing the 5-4 decision.
