MOOSIC, Pa. - A memorable season by the Haverford College baseball team came to a close on Saturday at the Mid-Atlantic Regional of the 2014 NCAA baseball championship as the Centennial Conference champion Fords fell to Wesleyan (Conn.) University, 6-3, at PNC Field.
Making its second appearance in the national tournament in the last three years, eighth-seeded Haverford (23-20) looked to stave off elimination by upending the champions of the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
Seventh-seeded Wesleyan (29-12) managed to get on the board first with five runs on six hits in the third. All of the hits were singles but the Cardinals took advantage of two errors by the Fords in the frame.
When Wesleyan tried to tack on another run in the fourth, Mike Tentilucci fired a strike from left field to throw out Robby Harbison at the plate and end the inning.
Buoyed by the standout defensive play, the Fords' bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth. Casey Fox worked a leadoff walk and Nick Ott followed with an RBI double to left field. Jared Deveau continued the rally with a single through the left side.
Cardinals' starting pitcher Jeff Blout departed after Deveau's single but Haverford was not finished yet. Ott scored when senior Justin Coulter reached on an error to pull the Fords within three at 5-2. Wesleyan reliever Peter Rantz then induced a double-play ball from the bat of Zach Taylor that left Deveau on third. George Hatamiya made sure Deveau was not stranded as he stepped to the plate and delivered an RBI single up the middle. When Tentilucci kept the inning alive with a walk, the Cardinals turned to their bullpen again and Chris Law (4-2) came on to strike out Nick Miranda.
The score remained 5-3 until the seventh when Wesleyan added another run on one hit in the frame. Andrew Yin drew a one-out walk which ended Max Gerard's day on the mound. Senior all-conference reliever Patrick Falkoff struck out Donnie Cimino but Sam Goodwin-Boyd plated Yin with a single up the middle.
Boasting a roster of battle-tested veterans, Haverford did not go down without a fight. The Fords, who won four straight elimination games on their path to the conference title, managed baserunners in each of the last three innings against Law but could not push another run across the plate.
Gerard (3-2), who had also pitched in a must-win situation on the final day of the Centennial tournament, struck out two and walked just one in six-plus innings of work.
Miranda and Ott each registered two hits in the contest as the Fords finished with eight overall.
The loss brings an end to the careers of Miranda, Coulter, Falkoff, William Bannard, Kyle Waney, and Brett Cohen.