HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference tournament with a split of a doubleheader against visiting Gettysburg College on Saturday afternoon at Kannerstein Field. The Fords took down the 22nd-ranked Bullets, 9-1, in the opener before falling, 6-2, in Game 2.
The Game 1 victory coupled with other conference results from the day landed the Fords (18-17, 11-7 CC) the opportunity to begin their quest for the Centennial title at home on Thursday, May 1, against the yet to be determined third seed.
Haverford did not back down from the challenge of playing nationally-ranked Gettysburg (29-6, 14-3) on the final day of the regular season as Haverford plated two runs in the first inning off of starter Drew Felsenthal (6-3). Sophomore Sam Kane notched the lone hit in the frame with a bases-loaded single.
The Fords went on to break the game open in the third with four runs on three hits. The first three Haverford batters reached base and Kane once again made the Bullets pay as he delivered another RBI-single. Gettysburg looked to get out of the inning with minimal damage when the next batter grounded into a double play but sophomore Zach Taylor extended the inning in resounding fashion when he blasted a two-run homer over the fence in left field to increase the Fords' lead to 6-0.
The Bullets began the fifth inning with back-to-back singles by Tommy Lenoir and Mike Kielbasa off of starter John Miraglia (1-3). Lenoir scored when Miraglia induced a double-play grounder from the bat of Scott Zanghellini but it would be the only run of the game for the visitors.
Haverford put the game out of reach in the seventh with three runs on two hits including an RBI-single by senior Nick Miranda, who currently ranks second in the conference in batting average (.377).
Miraglia struck out four in seven innings before junior Clay Bloszies came on in relief. Bloszies went on to strike out two of the five batters he faced.
In the nightcap, Gettysburg broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth with two runs off of Fords' starting pitcher Casey Fox (2-3).
Haverford looked for a late rally but the Fords could not get any runs across the plate against pitcher Luke Lawrence who earned his fourth save of the season in relief of Rich Power (5-1).
Haverford finished its non-conference slate against host Neumann University on Tuesday at 4 p.m. before beginning its bid for a Centennial title on Thursday at home.