AMBLER, Pa. – In a midweek contest at Arcadia, the Haverford College baseball team (7-8) was felled by the host Knights (11-6), dropping the decision by a final score of 6-4. The Fords held the lead twice, but Arcadia stormed back with a pair of rallies to take the non-conference contest at Skip Wilson Field on Temple University's Ambler campus.
After first year Martin Matsumura tossed a pair of scoreless innings to begin the contest, Haverford got on the scoreboard in the top of the third against Rob Lichtenberger. Junior Harrison Burns reached on an infield single and promptly stole second. With two down, junior Will Karp punched a single into the right-center field gap, plating Burns for the opening run of the game and a 1-0 Haverford lead.
A pair of Haverford errors allowed Arcadia to answer in their half of the inning. Matt Ernst reached on an error to plate a run before Dylan Towey gave Arcadia a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly. Phil Pierfy then notched a single to right center to stretch the Arcadia lead to 3-1.
Haverford answered in the fifth as senior Nick Perez singled with one out and advanced to second on an error. Burns later deposited a single down the right field line to score Perez. With two down, sophomore Garrett Melby knocked a single into right to score Burns, as the contest was again knotted at 3-3. After Karp walked, senior Ethan Lee-Tyson reached on an error, plating Melby in the process as Haverford regained the lead at 4-3.
Unfortunately for the Fords, Arcadia once again had an answer in its half of the fifth. Matt Ernst walked and advanced to scoring position on an error before Haverford went to the bullpen for junior Lucas Greenbaum. Greenbaum got the first out of the inning on a fielder's choice, as Ernst was called out at the plate, but Pierfy then launched a ground-rule double, scoring a pair for a 5-4 Knights lead. With senior Daniel Joffe summoned to the hill, Arcadia added another run on a squeeze bunt to take a 6-4 advantage into the sixth.
Perez singled in the sixth and Burns coaxed a one-out walk in the the ninth, but Haverford was largely held at bay by the Arcadia bullpen effort. Owen Margolis (1-0) picked up the win with 3.1 innings of one-hit relief, striking out three. Mitch Blake recorded his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth. Arcadia starter Lichtenberger set the tone to start things for the Knights, striking out the side in his first inning. Lichtenberger eventually tossed 4.2 innings, striking out five while allowing four runs (two earned).
Burns and Perez each had two-hit efforts for the Fords, while junior Luke Wallis stretched his on-base streak to 15 games after earning a walk in the second.
Matsumura allowed just two hits in his four innings of work, surrendering one earned run while striking out a batter and walking two. Joffe again impressed in relief for the Fords, as the senior threw 43 pitches to complete the final 3.2 innings, allowing just three hits while walking two.
Haverford now returns to Kannerstein Field for its third contest in as many days on Thursday. The Fords take on TCNJ, a team receiving votes in the D3Baseball.com poll and ranked 13th in the Collegiate Baseball poll. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.