HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team (9-4) suffered a 20-8 defeat against No. 7 Rowan (10-2) in their home opener at Kannerstein Field on Tuesday afternoon.
In a frenzied matchup that saw 28 runs and 29 hits, Haverford struck first as Harry Genth, returning to the lineup, launched a one-out home run in the first inning. The junior connected on his third round-tripper of the season, giving the Fords an early lead against Rowan's pitcher Jake Reese. Rowan matched the Fords output in the bottom of the frame against Drew Doyle, with Nick Struble hitting a homer into right field to tie the score at 1-1.
Kendrick Curry put the Fords ahead with a single up the middle in the second, but Rowan added four runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead. The Fords mounted a comeback against Reese in the bottom of the inning as Genth walked and Luke Treese singled, followed by a sacrifice fly from Jack Wallis. Kyle Beach singled up the middle, ending Reese's day, and Norton poked a single into right field against new pitcher Charlie Russell, bringing the Fords within one at 5-4.
After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, Rowan scored three runs in the fifth and added another in the sixth. Dylan Maria doubled into the left field gap in the seventh as part of a five-run rally, prompting the Fords to respond offensively in the bottom of the inning. Genth led off with a single against new pitcher Shane Sax, followed by a single from Treese. Both players stole their way into scoring position, and Wallis then launched a three-run homer to pull Haverford to within seven at 14-7.
Rowan added two more runs in the eighth and four in the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, the Fords plated their eighth run of the afternoon as pinch-hitter Sam Schaeffer walked, advanced to second on a single from Pranav Rane, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Dahl.
Four different Haverford batters had multi-hit games, with Genth, Treese, Beach, and Norton contributing two hits each. Wallis led with four RBIs. Haverford stole five bases, and five different players recorded an RBI.
Phil Sedalis had four hits and knocked in four runs, hitting out of the second spot for Rowan, while Maria, Jason Morgan, Tyler Cannon, Nick Struble, and Joey Bogart each had multi-hit games.
Doyle struck out four in his 3.1 innings of work, allowing just one earned run. Russell earned the win for Rowan with 3.1 innings of relief, giving up three hits and striking out three.
Next, the Fords face a quick turnaround with a road game against TCNJ, a team receiving votes in the latest D3Baseball.com poll, scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at 3:30 p.m. in Ewing, N.J.