HAVERFORD, Pa. – Thursday afternoon's non-conference baseball match-up between visiting Gwynedd Mercy University and home-standing Haverford College was certainly a wild one with 12 unearned runs, eight errors, five home runs and seven hit batters. Eventually the host Fords would finish off the Griffins for an 18-12 victory in windy conditions at Kannerstein Field.
Haverford (6-4), in its home opener after several postponements due to inclement weather, clinched the victory with five-run innings in the sixth and seventh to finally put away Gwynedd Mercy (6-6).
Though calling any inning in the affair a pivotal inning, the sixth turned the tide for good as the Fords answered a four-run top half of the inning by the Griffins -- which rallied the visitors into a 10-8 lead -- with a five-run bottom of the frame that included back-to-back home runs by Nick Ott and Justin Coulter.
Mike Tentilucci led off the Haverford sixth with a single through the left side then moved to second on Nick Miranda's first-pitch looping single down the left-field line.
The first break in the inning came with the next batter, William Bannard, as his sacrifice bunt turned into a run for the Fords when Griffins pitcher Sean Muscovitch fielded the bunt but threw away what should have been an easy out at second base. Tentilucci came around to score the first run in the frame, while Miranda moved to third and Bannard scooted safely into second base.
George Hatamiya's single over the second-base bag scored Miranda and pushed Bannard to third, but Hatamiya was caught stealing for the first out of the inning with Casey Fox at the plate.
Fox delivered a sacrifice fly to plate Bannard and then consecutive solo shots from Ott, over the left-field fence, and Coulter, a little deeper to left-center field, pushed the inning's run total to five and gave the home team the lead for good.
Haverford added five more in the seventh, sending 10 men to the plate. Fox's three-run shot to left field highlighted the frame for the home team.
Gwynedd started well, grabbing the lead in the top of the first on an inside-the-park home run by Mike Marchitto who lifted a Zach Taylor offering to the base of the center field fence over Miranda's head. Dante Cassano drew a walk off of Taylor before Marchitto stepped into the box, providing the early go-ahead run on Marchitto's round-tripper.
Taylor started on the mound for Haverford and lasted five innings with few mistakes, other than Marchitto's rap and a bomb over the center-field fence in the third by Rick Elfreth, until the fifth when Gwynedd collected two more runs off three hits, a hit batter and an error.
Taylor finished the frame, however, working out of a bases-loaded jam by recording the final two outs on strikeouts.
Clay Bloszies came on in relief to start the sixth and surrendered four runs -- with only one being charged as an earned run -- to allow the Griffins to move ahead, 10-8, but the Fords' five-run sixth made Bloszies the pitcher of record as he earned the win to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Grant Finn followed Bloszies and pitched 2/3s of an inning before handing off to Max Gerard who closed out the seventh with the final out then held the Griffins to a scoreless eighth. Hatamiya pitched the ninth with only a walk marring his scoreless inning.
Gwynedd starter Jamey Minnemeyer surrendered seven runs, only three were earned, in his three innings of work. Muscovitch took the loss after giving up six runs, four were unearned, in 2 and 2/3 innings. D.J. Mallon came on in relief in the sixth and finished the game for the Griffins.
Hatamiya played a big role at the plate for Haverford with a 4-for-6 outing that included five RBIs, a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Fox collected five RBIs on the day and scored twice. Miranda seemed to always find a way onto the base paths and finished with four runs, and Coulter and Tentilucci each scored three times in the win.
Non-conference action continues for the Fords with their next outing, a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Kannerstein against visiting St. John Fisher College. Game 1's first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.