HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team (6-14, 1-1 CC) split a pair of Centennial Conference games at home against Ursinus (13-8, 2-2 CC) on Tuesday evening. The Fords ran away with game one 8-2, while the visiting Bears returned the favor with an 8-2 victory of their own in game two. Maya Casey performed well in the circle, striking out five batters in the first game. Abby Marquis registered four total hits on the day and scored three runs.
Casey had everything working for her in the opening game of the doubleheader. Her pitching in the opening inning set the tone for Haverford. The win gives the senior pitcher a 3-5 record while she also reached 40 strikeouts on the season. After Casey left Ursinus scoreless in the top of the first, the Fords followed it with a four-run inning.
The spark for Haverford goes by the name of Abby Marquis. The junior from Albuquerque, N.M., registered three extra-base hits, one of them getting the Fords on the board early. First, Marquis' RBI double down the left-field line allowed Kayla Uyeda to score easily. Then, Nikki Kingsland hit an RBI single to center field to bring Marquis home. However, the Fords didn't stop there. A bizarre sequence saw Pearlstein hit an RBI single while Madison Hujber got caught in a rundown between second and third. As that happened, Mia Kessinger was able to venture home for an unearned run, giving Haverford an early 4-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Uyeda singled to center field. A throwing error from Ursinus cleared the way for Maddie Etheridge to score easily, extending the Fords' lead. Haverford sprinkled in a few more runs in the fifth inning, with Marquis scoring from a throwing error and Pearlstein's RBI single to left field.
The Fords later surrendered two runs, but in the end, the early scoring for Haverford put the game away before it even got started. However, that would all change in game two. What went Haverford's way in the first game didn't work out in game two. Ursinus completely flipped the script in what could be compared to a Freaky Friday experience. However, it took time to get to that 8-2 final score.
The contest was even at two going into the third inning. It looked like Haverford would dominate again after scoring two runs in the bottom of the opening inning. Kessinger singled to center field for an RBI, and Kingsland followed it up by grounding out to the shortstop to score another run. However, Ursinus would answer immediately. The Bears scored two runs thanks to a Julia Eckels two-RBI single.
Ursinus scored a run in the third and fourth inning before going off for four runs in the seventh inning. In between those frames, the Fords just seemed to never get the ball to fall into a sweet spot. Every hit would either fall short of a home run or be driven right to a player in the infield. Haverford made good contact on their attempts, but Ursinus was also positioned well to make the right plays.
Hujber recorded Haverford's only extra-base hit in game two, while Kessinger and Kingsland registered the team's lone RBI. Alexa Finkele moved to 1-2 on the year after her performance consisted of 2.2 innings, seven hits, two earned runs, and one walk.
Haverford will stay at home on Thursday, April 7, as they will welcome the visiting Eastern Eagles to Class of '95 Field for a doubleheader. The first pitch of action is slated for 3 p.m.