HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College baseball team stormed back to defeat Gwynedd Mercy with six runs in their final two innings, notching a sixth-straight victory on Monday afternoon at Kannerstein Field. The Fords fell behind by scores of 2-1 and 7-4 before rallying for the win over the Griffins with three runs each in the seventh and eighth frames.

Spencer Sohmer tied the game with a home run to right field in the seventh and Ben Furlong drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth with a single. Haverford has now won six straight for the first time since the 2016 squad tallied seven in a row from April 25 to May 8 of that season. The Fords are now 6-7 on the 2018 season while Gwynedd Mercy falls to 3-7.

The Fords sent Nathan Vucovich to the hill for his second start of the season, as the sophomore locked horns with Mike Di Ianni of the Griffins. The visitors pushed a pair of runs across against Vucovich in the first inning as Dave Tatoian tripled with two out and later scored on a wild pitch. Shaughn Wright then doubled for a 2-0 advantage against the Haverford hurler.

Haverford added a run back in the bottom of the frame, as Will Karp walked to lead off the home half of the first and scored on a wild pitch. In the fourth, Haverford grabbed its first lead of the contest against Di Ianni. Sam Partee walked with one out ahead of a single from Matt Goss. Ben Somorjai then launched a homer to left, plating Goss for a 3-2 lead.

Daniel Joffe replaced Vucovich on the mound in the top of the fifth and worked out of trouble in his first frame. The Fords pushed across an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth against new Griffins pitcher Gino Tripoli as Ethan Lee-Tyson doubled down the left field line and scored on Sohmer's bloop single into center field on a ball that was lost in translation between the infield and outfield.

In the top of the sixth, with Haverford holding a 4-2 lead, the Griffins broke things open against Joffe. Bobby Heck walked ahead of a double from Sachael Sciarretta. After Nick Mulvey drove in a run with an RBI groundout, Justin Curtin delivered a triple into the gap and Tatoian homered for a 6-4 lead. Thomas Primosch took over in relief and a fifth run would later score on a wild pitch as the Fords suddenly found themselves down 7-4 and looking for late-game answers.

After a shutdown frame for Gino Tripodi (1-1) in the bottom of the sixth, Haverford found its calling offensively in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Furlong doubled down the left field line, placing a ball just out of the reach of a diving effort by Curtin. Lee-Tyson followed with an RBI double to center and Sohmer cranked a two-run homer to right field to tie the score.

Looking to preserve the tie, the Fords turned to Brandon Jenkins (1-0) in relief in the top of the eighth. Jenkins delivered in a major way, striking out the side with three swinging strikeouts to send Haverford quickly back to the bat rack.

The momentum on the mound carried over into the bottom of the inning. Matt Goss tripled with one-out in the eighth and Somorjai coaxed a one-out walk out of Tripodi. Pinch hitter Nick Perez was unsuccessful in his safety squeeze bunt attempt, but was credited with a sacrifice for advancing Somorjai to scoring position. Furlong then roped a 3-2 pitch for a single to right center, bringing in the go-ahead run for Haverford. Karp cracked rapped an 0-1 single through the left side of the infield for two insurance runs as Haverford went ahead 10-7 entering the final inning.

Jenkins worked around a one-out walk in the ninth, retiring the Griffins with ease to secure his first victory of the season.

The Fords had four batters with multi-hit performances, including two doubles from Lee-Tyson. Tatoian was the only Griffin with multiple hits, as Gwynedd Mercy left 14 runners on base on the afternoon.

Vucovich had five strikeouts and allowed just two hits in his four innings of work. Primosch and Jenkins combined to work the final 3.2 innings of the contest, striking out five and allowing just one hit. Tripodi showed flashes of brilliance on the afternoon but was ultimately tagged with seven earned runs.

Haverford next returns to action on Wednesday with a single game at Widener. Game time is slated for 3:30 p.m in Chester, Pa.