Extra, Extra! Garnet Down Fords
HAVERFORD, Pa. -- Garnet pitcher Kathryn Riley '10 tied another school record with her 16th win of the season and battery mate Kira Kern '11 scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning as Swarthmore topped Haverford 1-0 in the first game of a Centennial softball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Class of '95 Field.
The Fords (21-12 overall, 11-4 CC) earned a split with the Garnet (21-16, 10-6 CC) a 7-5 win in the second game as both teams played their final regular season contests.
The seeds for the upcoming Centennial Conference championships are now finalized. Swarthmore, the No. 4 seed, is in the playoffs for the third consecutive year and will take on host Ursinus (28-9, 13-3 CC) in Collegeville, Pa. on Saturday, May 3. The other first-round match up consists of second-seed Haverford versus third-seed Dickinson (24-14, 12-4 CC).
Saturday’s action at Haverford saw the two opposing pitchers string together zeroes while using different approaches. Riley (Dagsboro, Del. / Indian River) (pictured right) got a majority of her outs via the strikeout, fanning 11 Fords’ hitters to push her school-record total to 152 on the season. Haverford starter Becky Garibotto (Edison, N.J. / John Stevens) put the onus on her defense, coming up with 17 groundball outs.
The Garnet broke through in the top of the tenth when Kern (Newtown, Pa. / Council Rock North) was sacrificed to third by junior Kristin Caspar (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. / Briarcliff) and then scored on an RBI single one out later by freshman Krista Scheirer (Norristown, Pa. / Germantown Academy).
Swarthmore is a perfect 4-0 in extra inning games in 2008, having much extra-inning success in the past four seasons (8-2).
Riley (16-7) allowed just six hits and walked none for her school-record eighth shutout of the season. Her 16 wins tie the College mark held by Barbara Schaefer ’90 (set in 1988).
Garibotto fell to 9-5 on the season, limiting Swarthmore to six hits with two strikeouts.
Scheirer and Riley both had two hits for Swarthmore.
Game two had a completely different feel as the bats from both sides awoke. Swarthmore generated a run in the top of the first as sophomore Monica Cody (Torrance, Calif. / Marymount) singled to center, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by senior Katherine Gold (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill East) and scored on an opposite-field hit from junior Christine Sendelsky (Edison, N.J. / John Stevens).
The Fords answered with a run in the bottom of the first and busted the game open with six more in the fourth inning.
Swarthmore fought back immediately with three runs in the top of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run double down the left field line by Sendelsky.
Sendelsky has been shuffled to many spots in the lineup as the Garnet work around injuries to key players. She has responded by upping her run-production, driving in five runs and scoring three times while hitting .368 (7 for 19) with three doubles in the last six games.
The Garnet added another run in the sixth as Kern led off with base hit and scored on Gold’s double to left-center. It is Gold’s 22nd RBI of the season and 88th of her career, moving her into the top-10 all-time in Centennial history.
Swartmore first-year Melissa Emmerson (Ringwood, N.J. / Lakeland Regional) also drove in a run, going 2-for-4 in game two.
Swarthmore starting pitcher Alexandra Zelaski ’09 (Middleburg, Ohio / Midpark) suffered the loss, falling to 5-8 on the season. Haverford sophomore Cassandra Searls (Green Brook, N.J. / Mount St. Mary Academy) (5-2) picked up the win after four innings of work while senior Julia Iodice (Irvington, N.Y. / Irvington) worked 1.1 innings for her first save of the season.
The official times for the Conference Championships will be released on Monday, April 28.