CARLISLE, Pa. – The Haverford College baseball team remained unbeaten and all alone atop the Centennial Conference standings with a doubleheader sweep of Dickinson on Sunday. Originally scheduled to be played at Haverford, the change in venue did not seem to have any effect on the Fords' pitching staff who allowed just two runs over its combined 18 innings of work.
Haverford has now won a program-record 10 straight regular season conference games on the road dating back to last season. The Fords are two full games clear of second place in the Centennial Conference.
In game one, it was Stephen Ridings and George Hatamiya who combined to shut out Dickinson, 5-0. Ridings picked up his third win of the season as he went 7.2 innings and allowed just three hits while striking out six. Hatamiya came on for the final four outs to close the victory. He allowed just one hit during that time and struck out a pair of Red Devils.
After walking the first batter of the game, Ridings settled in and retired the next nine batters that he faced in succession. That streak was broken up in the fourth inning with a leadoff single. That runner stole second and third, but a foul out on the infield and back-to-back strikeouts got the Fords' starter out of the inning unharmed. He also retired eight in a row during a separate stretch before inducing a ground out to strand a two-out single in the sixth.
Offensively, Haverford could not get to the Red Devils' starting pitcher until the fifth inning. Zach Taylor started that inning with a single and came around to score on a Sam Partee double during the next at-bat. Partee moved to third on a defensive miscue and scored on an RBI groundout from Ben Furlong. The Fords loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning as Spencer Sohmer singled, Sam Kane was hit by a pitch, and Ethan Lee-Tyson reached on an error. Sohmer scored on a balk, while a sacrifice fly from Taylor made it 4-0 after six innings.
The Fords added their final run of the afternoon in the seventh inning when Furlong homered to lead off the frame. Dickinson put runners on base in each of its final three turns up to bat, but could not push a run across as the Fords' pitchers completed their fourth combined shutout of the season.
In game two, Haverford once again got on the board first and led from that point on. The Fords' offense clicked a little earlier in game two with Ben Verducci getting a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the second to score Nick Ott after he started the inning with a single. Furlong continued his hot hitting in game two with another two-out single that scored Taylor. Haverford's final run of the second game came on an RBI knock from Kane as Matt Goss came around to score after leading off the inning with a walk.
Grant Finn foiled the Red Devils' lineup for 7.1 innings as he scattered six hits in his start. He also struck out five and walked just one batter en route to recording his third win of the season. Dickinson's only run off of Finn came in the eighth inning following a leadoff double and single to plate a run. Finn got the next batter to fly out to right field before he was lifted in favor of John Masella. Masella promptly struck out the next two batters to escape any further damage.
Dickinson also started the top of the ninth with a leadoff double. That runner moved up to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Red Devils put the tying run on base with two outs, but Masella caught the runner leaning and picked him off to end any further threat. In the process, Masella locked down his third save of the season.
Baseball is slated for another full week of action as the Fords will be at home during four of this week's five scheduled games. Up first will be a home date with Muhlenberg on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The Fords make the return trip to Allentown on Friday. Haverford will also host Gwynedd Mercy in non-conference action on Wednesday, while McDaniel makes the trip to Kannerstein Field for the weekend doubleheader.