GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Haverford College swept away the host Bullets from Gettysburg College, 6-0 and 7-4, Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference baseball action, clinching no worse than the No. 2 seed for the upcoming league tournament next weekend.
The No. 29 Fords (29-6, 14-14 CC) set a program record for wins in a season with Saturday's first win, then upped the new mark by one with the second victory over the Bullets (11-22, 5-13).
Game 1 starting pitcher Colin Sarafin didn't need all the help he received in run support, but he certainly didn't turn away at the team's offensive production.
The only run Sarafin would end up needing was the initial one of the game when Jeremy Zoll's one-out ground-out pushed Mike Galetta home for what would turn out to be the winning run. Galetta reached on a double to right-center field then stole third setting up Zoll for the RBI.
Charlie Carluccio struck the big blow for the Fords in a four-run fourth, belting a two-run home run that scored Jake Chaplin who'd doubled right before.
Alex Hudak led the fourth off with a single to left-center then gave way to pinch-runner Justin Coulter who stole second and then came around to score on Louis DeRosa's double down the right field line. Chaplin's two-bagger brought DeRosa in before Carluccio's blast added the inning's final two runs.
Coulter scored again in the sixth on an RBI-single by DeRosa after reaching on his own single to right-center.
Sarafin (5-1) was strong throughout his outing only having to work out of one jam, a bases-loaded situation in the second. Following that escape, he only allowed two other Gettysburg base-runners to reach second base over the remainder of the game. He earned the complete-game shutout scattering six hits and allowing one walk while striking out three.
Gettysburg starter Kyle Conklin (0-3) took the loss surrendering six runs on 11 hits and two walks in seven innings of work.
Game 2 followed much of the same script as the opener with the Fords scoring an early run while starting pitching held the Bullets' bats silent.
Chaplin singled toward second with one out for the Fords' initial base-runner in the top of the first. Following a fly out to right field he stole second which allowed him to easily race home on Jeff Butera's double to center field for the game's first run.
After pushing two more runs across the plate in the sixth, Haverford used another four-run inning to increase the lead for starting pitcher Dan Hochburg.
DeRosa reached safely with a one-out bunt in the seventh and moved to second on Chaplin's single through the left side. Carluccio singled up the middle to bring home DeRosa, then he and Chaplin were able to trot home more slowly after Butera cleared the left-center field fence with his sixth home run of the season.
Gettysburg finally put a run up on the board against a Haverford pitcher in the bottom half of the inning scoring one run on a single and double off Hochberg.
Until then, Hochberg was more masterful of the Gettysburg bats than Sarafin had been. A single in the bottom of the first, a walk in the fourth and a double in the fifth were the only base-runners Hochberg allowed until a slip in the seventh. He gave way to Mike Bozzi to start the eighth, who mirrored Hochberg's efforts putting down the Bullets in order to head to the ninth with a six-run lead.
Brett Cohen came on to start the ninth for Bozzi and got into some trouble, allowing three Gettysburg runs, but Patrick Falkoff stepped to the mound in relief and closed out the win for the Fords and earned his fourth save of the year.
Hochberg (4-0) threw seven innings allowing just one run off four hits and a walk while fanning seven to earn the win. Gettysburg starter Brett Norton (1-5) took the loss after giving up six runs on 10 hits and a walk through 6.1 innings of work.
DeRosa and Butera each collected three hits for Haverford in the win with Butera registering four RBIs. Chaplin, Carluccio and Galetta also had multi-hit games for the Fords.
The Fords have one more game remaining, a non-conference contest against visiting Widener University Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., on their regular season slate before the conference playoffs begin Friday.
Saturday's wins, coupled with a doubleheader rain-out of league leader Johns Hopkins University, puts the Fords a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays who have three games left to play within conference action—Monday against visiting Muhlenberg College in a doubleheader and Tuesday against host Washington College in a single game.
Whatever the Blue Jays' results, the Fords have clinched no worse than the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament as Franklin & Marshall College split its doubleheader against Swarthmore College to fall out of contention for the second-seed.