SAVANNAH, Ga.--The Hood College softball team (1-3) dropped a
pair of one-run ballgames to the Haverford College Fords Monday at
the Smash Hit Spring Break Tournament hosted by Savannah College of
Art & Design.
Hood's seventh-inning rally fell short in the first game as the
Fords held on for a 6-5 victory in the first game. Then in the
second matchup, Tamara Maggard surrendered one unearned run and
held the Fords to five hits over six innings but the Blazers were
unable to plate a run of their own and dropped a heartbreaking 1-0
decision.
Haverford scored single runs in the second and third innings of the
first game on a sacrifice fly and a homerun to take a 2-0 lead
after three frames. Then the Fords erupted for four runs in the
fifth. Junior Lindsey Sullivan delivered the big blow when she
smacked a two-out bases-clearing double.
Hood got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Jess Krietz
belted her first homerun of the season. It was the third
round-tripper of her Blazer career. After holding the Fords
scoreless in the sixth, the Blazers rallied for three runs on five
hits in the bottom of the inning. Kara Robert and Christine Harvey
each delivered run-scoring singles in the inning to cut the deficit
to 6-4 heading into the seventh.
Jamie Gardner faced the heart of the Haverford lineup in the top of
the seventh, but got Taylor Zavadsky to ground into an
inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sara Wastler ripped a one-out single
and advanced to second on a passed ball. Wastler scored Hood's
fifth run on a single by Maggard but she was thrown out at second
attempting to stretch her basehit into a double. But the Blazer
rally stalled there as Jamie Bussey popped up to end the
inning.
Maggard was 2-for-4 with a run scored as the Blazers rapped out a
season-high 10 basehits. Gardner took the loss after allowing six
earned runs on 10 hits in seven innings.
In the nightcap, Maggard went the distance and allowed just one
unearned run in the bottom of the third. Haverford's Samantha
Fontinell and Cassandra Searls combined for a six-hit shutout as
the Fords improved to 2-0 on the season. Jennifer Willison walked
and pinch-hitter Stephanie Gardner singled to lead off the top of
the seventh. Ashley Lenhart then laid down a sacrifice to advance
both runners into scoring position. But Searls retired lead-off
hitter Wastler on a line-out and struck out Maggard to end the
Blazer threat.
Hood continues play at the Smash Hit Spring Break Tournament
tomorrow with single games against Swarthmore and Haverford.
