HAVERFORD, Pa. - In the final non-conference tune-up before the Centennial Conference season begins, the Haverford College baseball team was edged by Cabrini on Thursday afternoon. The final score of the contest at Kannerstein Field was 8-7 in favor of the visitors from just up the Main Line.
Ethan Lee-Tyson had three hits and a pair of RBIs while Spencer Sohmer added a two-run home run. Owen Plambeck had a career-best three hits on the afternoon. Haverford falls to 7-11 on the season while Cabrini is now 10-7 on the season.
Haverford sent Pat O'Shea to the hill as the senior made his first start since his sophomore campaign. He opposed Griffin Hays of Cabrini. The pair both allowed first inning runs as a hit by pitch plated a run for Cabrini before Ethan Lee-Tyson doubled down the right field line and eventually scored on a wild pitch to tie the score in the bottom of the inning.
Cabrini took a brief lead in the top of the second, but Haverford equalized in the bottom of the third as Lee-Tyson and Sohmer both singled ahead of an RBI groundout from Matt Goss to tie the score against Hays.
The Cavaliers struck for three runs against new Haverford pitcher Sam Istvan in the fourth inning. Istvan, making his collegiate debut on the mound, struck out the first two batters he faced before Joe Aurite delivered a home run to left field. Tyler Norris followed with a double and down the left field line and JD Barrett walked. The pair scored on a Dylan Butler single as Cabrini pulled to a 5-2 lead.
Cabrini would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest, but Haverford battled back to make things extremely interesting in the late stages of the contest. In the fifth inning, Will Karp singled with one out and Spencer Sohmer drilled a home run to left, plating a pair as Haverford suddenly found themselves down by just one at 5-4.
Matt Dobeck (1-2) got perhaps the biggest outs of the contest in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Fords loaded the bases against Drew Swire and looked poised to pull ahead with the momentum firmly in the home dugout. Dobeck came in to clean up the inning in relief and induced a double play grounder off the bat of Will Karp to end the frame. Dobeck (1-2) was credited with the victory as the starter Hays did not reach the full four innings to qualify for the win despite Cabrini never surrendering its fourth-inning lead.
Cabrini added three runs in the seventh inning against new Haverford pitcher Lucas Greenbaum, as Barrett delivered the big blow with a two-RBI double, and Cabrini grew its advantage to 8-4.
Haverford had a response in the bottom of the eighth. Owen Plambeck delivered a single through the left side of the infield and stole second. Ben Furlong was hit by a pitch and Tom Phillips reached on a fielding error. Michael Schwarze hit a comebacker to the pitcher with the bases loaded and Dobeck attempted to throw back to the catcher for the force out at home. His throw was off line, allowing a run to score. Later in the frame, Lee-Tyson singled through the right side of the infield to plate a pair and cut the Cabrini lead to just one.
Tyler Ronayne got the final out of the inning, retiring Sohmer, and worked around a pair of walks in the ninth inning to seal his second save of the season.
The Fords stole five bases and turned four double plays on the afternoon. Norris and Barrett were the only Cavaliers with multi-hit contests.
Haverford will return to action on Saturday, March 31 with a doubleheader against McDaniel. The opening matchups of Centennial Conference play are slated for 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Westminster, Md.