FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Haverford College baseball team (4-3) suffered a defeat to Wisconsin Lutheran (3-6) on Tuesday, falling 9-2 on day three of the Gene Cusic Classic at Terry Park.
The Fords got onto the scoreboard first to begin the day, following a scoreless top of the first from starter Luke Bessette, who was making his first start on the mound since April 10, 2022 after missing last season due to injury.
Following a walk and stolen base by Jack Wallis, Kyle Beach knocked Wallis in with a single to left field to give the Scarlet and Black an early 1-0 lead.
Bessette ran into trouble in the top of the second, loading the bases up from a walk, single, and hit by pitch. Andrew Schindler entered the game for Bessette to try and get out of the jam, but walked Eli Michaelis to give up the first Warrior run of the day.
With the bases still loaded, Henry Strupp ripped a two-run double down the left field line to plate two more Wisconsin Lutheran runners, pulling his team into the lead at 3-1. A pair of RBI singles from Oliver Lopeztello and Elijah Shevey in the next two at-bats further increased the Warrior advantage to 5-1.. Following a bases-loaded walk, the Fords were finally able to escape the second inning, trailing by five at 6-1.
Schindler put a zero up on the board in the top of third, as Haverford was able to draw one back in the bottom half of the inning, as a Matt Dahl single scored Daniel Rosman to trim the Wisconsin Lutheran lead down to four at 6-2.
Foster Engelhardt led off the top of the fourth with a double down the left field line and came around to score off an RBI single from Tim Frerking to stretch the Warrior lead back out to 7-2.
The bats eventually got cold for Fords from the fourth inning on, as Warriors hurler Gabe Knight tossed three hitless innings, striking out three before coming out of the contest after facing 31 total batters.
Wisconsin Lutheran tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning via a bases-loaded walk and an RBI single against Adam Naegelen, before Warriors' reliever Ian Rintelman shut the Fords down in the eighth and escaped a tight jam in the ninth where Haverford stranded two runners on base to seal the victory for WLC.
Following an off day Wednesday, the Fords and the Warriors will meet again on Thursday, March 14, at 9 a.m. as the Gene Cusic Classic rolls on from Fort Myers.