ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern Softball was swept by Haverford College Thursday afternoon by scores of 9-0 and 11-4. The Fords hit five home runs on the afternoon and shut down the Eagles offense holding them to just four runs in two games.

"We did not play up to our potential today," said Head Coach Claire Emplit. "We simply didn't execute at all in the first game on offense or defense, and it hurt us on the scoreboard." 

In the first game, after both teams battled through two scoreless innings Haverford (5-7) finally broke through in the third inning. A leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt gave the Fords a runner in scoring position. A double the very next at-bat plated the opening run of the game before another double two batters later scored another run to make it 2-0. 

Eastern (3-9) defensively kept Haverford at bay but were unable to generate any form of offense to chip away at the deficit. In the seventh inning, the Fords blew the game wide open scoring seven runs. All seven of those runs came with less than two outs in the inning; two came with no outs. The first four batters for Haverford all reached base safely hitting two singles and two doubles and plating two runs. The Ford stretched their lead to 9-0 by the time the final out was recorded. 

The Eagles went three up and three down in the bottom half of the fifth inning. The game was then called due to the eight-run rule, making the game final after only five innings. 

In the second game, Eastern's offense found some rhythm and after falling behind 2-0, the Eagles battled back to take a 3-2 in the bottom of the third inning. 

Alyssa Welsh led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an overthrow to first base. Ashton Tomlinson then reached base on another fielding error by Haverford giving Eastern runners on first and third. Kasey Williams plated Tomlinson one batter later to get Eastern on the scoreboard at 3-2. A single by Haleigh Williams one batter later scored two runs to give Eastern its first lead all day at 3-2. 

Haverford fought back to tie the game in the fourth inning, but Tomlinson gave the Eagles the lead right back in the bottom half of the inning. Tomlinson reached base safely on a bunt single scoring Kelsey Clever to make the score 4-3.

"I am really proud of the way we battled back in the second game," continued Emplit. "We saw what we can do when we are patient at the plate and don't try to do too much when we have our at-bats."  

However, Haverford came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth inning when Kristin Tatum led off with a solo home run. The Fords tacked on seven more runs in the sixth and seventh inning combined scoring all runs via the long ball as Haverford belted three more home runs, one more by Tatum and two by Rachel Wolfson, making the score final at 11-4. 

Tomlinson finished the game 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Clever finished the game 1-3 as well with one run scored.  

"We have to learn from this game and move on from it," concluded Emplit. "We need to get better at everything from hitting and pitching to fielding and simple execution. We will be better for these losses today." 

Eastern travels to Wilkes on March  19th to open MAC Freedom play with a doubleheader starting at 1 pm.