HAVERFORD, Pa. - For the second time in the past three years the Haverford College baseball team has reached the NCAA Tournament. The Fords will face Moravian College in the opening game of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional at PNC Field on Wednesday, May 14 at 1:15 p.m.
Haverford (22-18) heads to PNC Field in Moosic, Pa. for the Mid-Atlantic regional with seven other teams, including Moravian, Rowan University, Susquehanna University, Baldwin-Wallace University, Misericordia University, Keystone College, and Wesleyan University.
The eighth-seeded Fords face top-seed Moravian in the first round. Haverford and the No. 22 Greyhounds are familiar with each other after playing a game together earlier this spring. Moravian finished as runner-up to Susquehanna in the Landmark Conference championship and has won a program-record 32 games this season. The Greyhounds placed seven players on the Landmark all-conference team and right fielder Matt Hanson was named the league's player of the year after hitting .401 with 46 RBIs in 2014.
Rowan earned the second seed in the regional after winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) championship. The Profs (32-10) have nine different players batting above .300 with Eric Perez leading the team at .397. Starting pitcher Dylan Johannink has been one of the best pitchers for Rowan this year. The junior has a perfect 6-0 record and 2.37 ERA in 57 innings.
The third seed in the regional is Landmark Conference champion Susquehanna. The Crusaders (28-12) clinched the program's first ever league title with a 5-2 win over Moravian and won a school-best 15 games in a row in March. Susquehanna received three honors from the Landmark as Casey Hood garnered pitcher of the year recognition, freshman Taylor Luckenbill was named rookie of the year, and head coach Denny Bowers was selected as the coach of the year. Hood went 8-1 on the mound and Luckenbill batted .378 throughout the season.
Baldwin-Wallace (25-18) was the runner-up in the Ohio Athletic Conference and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and captured the fourth seed in the regional. Host Misericordia (29-13-1) earned the fifth seed after it won its fourth consecutive Freedom Conference title. Haverford will face either Baldwin-Wallace or Misericordia on Friday depending the results of both games.
Keystone (27-12) and Wesleyan (27-11) are the sixth and seventh seeds, respectively, after both schools won their respective conference championships.
Haverford fought its way into the NCAA Tournament by staging off elimination four consecutive times and swept No. 21 Gettysburg College in the Centennial Conference Championship round to earn the league title and an automatic bid into the national tournament.
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys. We played a very strong non-conference schedule, and we faced a lot of adversity all year as we looked for a way to start playing our best baseball," commented 14th year head coach Dave Beccaria. "The conference championship is a true testament to the quality of the character, toughness and competitiveness on our team."
The Fords limited the nationally-ranked Bullets to just one run in 21 innings during the championship round of the conference tournament. Centennial pitcher of the year Tommy Bergjans pitched six shutout innings in the deciding Game 7 and leads a stable of Haverford pitchers who have progressed well throughout the year.
Senior Patrick Falkoff is the Fords' number one option in the bullpen as the right hander tied a school record with seven saves this year and was a perfect 3-0 throughout the season. Falkoff was named honorable mention all-conference after leading the league in saves and recording a 3.24 ERA.
"It was difficult to get everyone enough innings and to get into a rhythm on the mound because of the poor weather this spring," said Beccaria. "Going into the year we felt that our pitching staff was going to be a strength of the team and it certainly was a strength of ours in the conference playoffs."
At the plate the Fords have been powered by All-Centennial First Team center fielder Nick Miranda. Miranda is batting .350 on the season and has hit safely in 23 of the team's last 26 games. Classmate William Bannard collected nine hits in the league tournament and was named the Centennial Tournament Most Valuable Player for his performance from the plate and at shortstop. Haverford has also received production from a multitude of players and hopes that a dangerous lineup in the NCAA Tournament will result in scoring runs.
"Our offense isn't built around any one or two guys," added Beccaria. "We just look for everyone to be versatile and aggressive playmakers, and we're fortunate to have a lot of competitive guys who know how to play winning baseball."
Sophomore Nick Ott has been aggressive at the plate this season as the catcher led Haverford in doubles (11) and triples (2). The honorable mention all-league performers' .447 slugging percentage leads the squad among players with 65 or more at bats and he finished the year second on the team with 22 RBIs.
Regional action will continue throughout the weekend with the winner of the regional advancing to the Division-III World Series in Appleton, Wis. from May 23-27.