Kylie Nottingham Homers In Both Games; Hits Winning HR In Game One

HAVERFORD, PA – Visiting Washington College took both ends of a Centennial Conference softball doubleheader against host Haverford College on Tuesday afternoon at Class of '95 Field.  The Shorewomen rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win 8-6 in game one and held off the Fords in game two by a 12-10 count.  The Shorewomen are now 11-9 overall and 3-1 in the conference this season, while the Fords drop to 5-13 and 2-4 respectively on the year.  It is Washington's first Centennial Conference road doubleheader sweep since April 1, 2006 when the Shorewomen swept Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, PA by the scores of 11-8 and 6-4.

In game one, the Shorewomen entered the top of the seventh inning 6-1 when they scored seven times in their last at-bat to come out with the 8-6 win.  Freshman Macauley Brooks (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough) led off the inning as a pinch hitter was hit by the pitch and after she reached first, freshman Hilary Rosenberg (Sweetwater, NJ/Oakcrest) re-entered the game and was on first.  The next batter, freshman Lauren Dockrill (San Diego, CA/Cathedral Catholic) singled to shortstop to put runners on first and second.  Junior Jill Piasecki (Galena, MD/Kent County) singled to right-center and allowed Rosenberg to score to cut the Haverford lead to 6-2.  The next hitter, junior Leigh Carbutt (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) smacked a two-run double to left-center and chased home Dockrill and Piasecki to trim the deficit to two runs.  Following a pitching change for the Fords, junior Sally Snover (Charlotte, NC/Myers Park) singled to right and drove in Carbutt to make it a 6-5 Haverford lead.  Snover would advance to second on a passed ball and sophomore Brittany Walter (Forest Hill, MD/C. Milton Wright) singled to right and took second on the throw to put runners on second and third with no outs.  Freshman Kylie Nottingham (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) would give Washington its first lead of the day when she launched a three-run home run to put the visitors up 8-6.  Walter would retire Haverford in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game and get the win.

The Fords scored once in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead when Candice Smith singled through the left side to plate Elizabeth Newman. 

Haverford scored five times in the bottom of the fourth to grab a 6-0 lead.  Erin Delaney led off with a single and would score on Laura Iwanyk's single up the middle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.  Jordan Nieusma would double to right-center and brought in Marina Zambrotta to give the Fords a three-run lead.  Nieusma scored on a fielder's choice and on the play Newman scored on a throwing error to put the hosts up five runs.  Jen DiCandilo scored Beth Davis on a double to center to give Haverford a 6-0 lead.

Washington scored its first run of the game in the top of the fifth when Snover got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and scored sophomore Lindsey Glascock (Glenwood, MD/Glenelg).   The score would hold up until the seven run top of the seventh.

Kylie Nottingham went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored in the win, with her three RBI coming on the eventual game-winning long ball.  Dockrill and Glascock joined Kylie Nottingham with two hits in the opener.  Walter got the win in the circle and is now 6-4 on the year as she tossed her fifth complete game of the year and struck out six Fords.

Delaney had two hits, while Newman scored twice for Haverford in game one.  Pitching wise, Claire Fitzgerald took the loss and falls to 1-6 in relief of starter Lisa Karmel.  She gave up all three runs on Kylie Nottingham's home run.

In game two, Haverford struck twice in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead on a two-run double to left-center off the bat of Nieusma. 

Washington would score four times in the top of the fourth as Kylie Nottingham tied the game on a two-run home run to left-center and two batters later Glascock connected on her first career long ball to center to put the Shorewomen up 4-2.

The Fords tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run two-bagger to left field by DiCandilo. 

Washington would score five times in the top of the sixth to take a 9-4 lead with all five runs coming with two outs.  Kylie Nottingham scored on a fielding error to put the Shorewomen up 5-4 and the bases were still loaded.  The next batter, Piasecki would single home three runs to put the guests up 8-4 and she would come around to score on a single to center off the bat of Snover to put the Shorewomen up by five.

The guests tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh to grab an eight-run lead.  Brooks singled home Kylie Nottingham on a hit to left to make it a 10-4 contest.  Dockrill chased in Glascock on a single to left to put WC up 11-4 and the inning was capped by Rosenberg scoring on a passed ball to give Washington a 12-4 cushion heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Haverford would not go down quietly though as they scored six times and had the bases loaded before the rally came up short.  Delaney would score the first run to cut the lead to 12-5.  Nieusma singled to through the left side to plate Iwanyk to trim the lead to six runs.  Davis walked with the the bases loaded with bring home Laina Gagliardi and it was a five-run WC lead.  Following a pitching change, Nieusma scored on an RBI groundout to reduce the WC cushion to four runs.  DiCandilo would cut the Washington lead in half when she chased home Davis and Newman on a single up the middle and WC's lead was 12-10.  The next two Fords would walk, setting up a bases loaded two-out situation with the tying run on second and the winning run on first and Zambrotta at the dish.  Washington junior pitcher Meaghan Kimme (Lumberton, NJ/Holy Cross) would get Zambrotta to pop up to Glascock to end the ballgame and give Washington its first conference road doubleheader sweep in five years.

For Washington in game two, Dockrill, Kylie Nottingham and Glascock all had three hits with Kylie Nottingham and Glascock both scoring three times and driving in two.  Piasecki drove in a personal best three in the victory, while sophomore Shaelan Nottingham (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) had two hits and dented the plate twice.  Carbutt was the fifth WC player to have multiple hits as she had two.  In the circle, Kimme got the win and is now 4-3.  She tossed the first five innings and came back in to get the final two outs.

For Haverford in the nightcap, Iwanyk went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while DiCandilo was 2-for-4 with a game-high four RBI.  Nieusma had a 2-for-4 game with three RBI, while Newman scored twice in game two.  Smith and Delaney both totaled two hits with Smith driving in one run.  In the circle, Maggie Cronin took the loss and falls to 0-3.

Washington returns to action on Thursday with a non-conference double-header against visiting Rutgers-Camden.  First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.