HAVERFORD, Pa.-The Haverford College baseball team's 2014 schedule is out as the Fords get set to build on their past winning seasons in search of another Centennial Conference title to go with their victory in 2012.
The Haverford schedule, which includes eight teams that played in the 2013 NCAA Division tournament, opens on March 1 with a home doubleheader against Rutgers-Newark of the New Jersey Athletic Conference.
The Fords' spring break trip in Florida consists of six teams over a seven-day span. Three of those teams, North Park University, Salem State and Wisconsin Lutheran, earned spots in their respective conference playoffs and Salem State pushed its postseason one step further into the NCAA tournament.
Upon returning to campus and Kannerstein Field, Haverford will face an early test on March 19 in its first road contest against a DeSales University team which posted an impressive 32-12 record during a 2013 campaign that led the Bulldogs to a runner-up finish in the Freedom Conference. Out-of-league play continues with home games against Gwynedd Mercy and St. John Fisher, and an away game up the Main Line at Eastern University.
Following a non-conference home contest against NCAA-participant Rowan University, the Fords kick off league action with a stiff test in the form of an away doubleheader on March 29 against rival and 2013 Centennial runner-up Johns Hopkins University which also played in the national tournament.
Save the date on April 1 as rival Swarthmore College visits Haverford, marking the first of seven games in nine days for the Fords including multiple contests against conference opponents Dickinson College and Muhlenburg College and a mid-week battle at Kannerstein against Alvernia, another of the 2013 NCAA teams on the slate.
The Fords follow this stretch with 10 consecutive conference matchups, headlined by back-to-back games on April 22 and 25 at home then away against defending Centennial champions Franklin & Marshall College.
Haverford closes out its season away in a non-conference matchup against Neumann University on April 29.