HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team (6-5) suffered a setback in the home opener, falling by a 16-6 final to Widener (4-8) at Kannerstein Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Fords struck first, scoring two runs in the third inning, but Widener scored six in the fifth inning and nine in the seventh inning to pull away late.
Haverford plated a pair in the third inning. Zach Landry walked and Chuck Norton reached on a throwing error. Harry Genth then laid down a bunt single to load the bases, and Daniel Rosman walked with the bases loaded for the first run of the contest. Jonny Flieder grounded into a double play, but Norton came home to score as Haverford was in the lead 2-0 after three frames.
Despite the loss, Haverford starting pitcher Drew Doyle had a solid performance in his home debut, throwing 4.2 innings and striking out four batters. Doyle twirled a perfect frame in the first and third innings, striking out the side in order in the third. He also delivered a shutdown fourth inning, before running into trouble in the fifth.
With the winds whipping on a cold early spring day, Anthony Boccio delivered an RBI double to cut the Haverford lead to one, before a triple from Aaron Nuble and a three-run homer from Andrew Yates gave Widener a 6-2 advantage.
Haverford loaded the bases in their half of the fifth, but could not score, and after each side swapped scoreless half innings in the sixth, Widener put the contest out of reach with a nine-run frame that included a Boccio homer as well as both a single and a triple from Justin Costa. Suddenly, Haverford was down 15-2 at the end of seven.
Rosman delivered a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Landry reached on an RBI infield single in the eighth. The first three Haverford hitters reached in the ninth, with Oliver Bergeron and Jory Lee each logging RBI off the bench.
Harry Genth continued his hot start to the season with a 3-for-4 performance, while Landry notched a pair of hits and scored two runs. On the mound, Patrick Coleman and Mitchell Pagano did well to limit the damage from Widener, allowing just two hits and striking out three in tandem in the eighth and ninth innings.
Sal Velotti took a tough-luck no decision for the visitors, as he did not reach the required five innings to qualify for a win. He exited allowing just two hits and two unearned runs while striking out five. Aidan O'Brien was stellar in relief to log the win, striking out one in a perfect 1.1 innings of work.
Baseball will have no time to dwell on the loss, as the Fords head to Immaculata for a Thursday afternoon matchup tomorrow (3:30 p.m.). Immaculata reached the NCAA tournament a season ago, and are currently 5-4 on the season.