ASTON, Pa. - On the final day of the 2023 regular season, the Haverford College Baseball team (19-19, 9-9 CC) secured its spot in the Centennial Conference Baseball tournament with a resounding 10-5 win over Swarthmore (20-17-1, 9-8-1 CC) Monday at Maple Zone Sports Institute. The contest was played on the Maple Zone Turf in Aston due to the rainy weather over the weekend that made Kannerstein Field unavailable.
Haverford scored nine runs in the first three innings to help guide senior Josh Fuller to victory on the mound. One of the biggest hits on the day came from Daniel Rosman, as Rosman drilled a bases-clearing double in his second at-bat of the first inning to put Haverford ahead 7-0. For the day, Rosman, Jonny Flieder, and Zach Becker all tallied two-hit contests.
The Fords got to work offensively, batting around against Matteo Sollecito in the first frame. Rosman led off the contest with a single up the middle. Harry Genth was hit by a pitch, and Flieder then singled to plate Rosman. Jack Wallis and Zach Landry each walked in order to plate Haverford's second run, and with two down, Wallis scored on a wild pitch. Pranav Rane walked, and Rosman then delivered the double against new pitcher Jack Bowling. When all was said and done in the bottom of the first inning, Haverford had tallied seven runs on four hits.
Fuller surrendered his first run of the contest on Nate Jbara's double in the second, but Haverford plated two more runs in the third to extend the margin. With two down, Zach Crampton reached on an infield single and Rane followed with a single through the middle. Rosman walked, loading the bases for Genth, who poked a single through the left side to plate a pair for a 9-1 advantage.
The Garnet had a rally in the fourth, with Aidan Sullivan doing some damage with a two-run double into left field, and the Garnet got things back within four as Emmet Reynolds tripled and came into score on a sacrifice fly from Andrew Burgess in the seventh. Fuller was a calming presence as the senior twirled his way through eight innings with five strikeouts. Sam Cohen got the final inning on the mound of Haverford, striking out one and surrendering just one hit to quiet the Swarthmore bats in their final opportunity.
Baseball is making its 14th trip to the Centennial Conference tournament, and first since the 2019 season. The Fords will be right back into a matchup with the Garnet, as fifth-seeded Haverford now faces off with the fourth-seeded Swarthmore tomorrow at Clothier Field (3 p.m.) in Centennial Conference First Round action.
With the victory, Haverford's all-sports Hood Trophy rivalry with Swarthmore is currently knotted at 8-8, as the holder of the trophy will come down to the results from Saturday's Centennial Conference Track & Field Championships at Ursinus. The Hood Trophy points in Track & field are awarded to whichever squad finishes highest in the final meet standings on Sunday (one point for men's and one point for women's).
Throughout the tournament, all of the action will be streamed via the Centennial Conference Digital Network. Fans are also encouraged to follow @HCFords_BSB on Twitter and @HCFordsSports on Instagram for the latest updates throughout all spring postseason play.