HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College baseball team (24-12, 13-5 CC) has qualified for the Centennial Conference tournament for the ninth consecutive year and 11th time in 12 years.

The Centennial Conference postseason follows a double elimination, round robin format. In its first game, second seeded Haverford will face No. 3 McDaniel College at home on Thursday at 3 p.m. The winner will face the winner of top seeded Johns Hopkins and No. 4 Gettysburg on Saturday. The winner of that game will automatically go to the Centennial Conference championship on Sunday.

The Fords split the season series with McDaniel this year, winning 4-0 and losing 11-2 in a home doubleheader. In game one, starting pitcher Stephen Ridings outlasted his counterpart, Zach Kronick, in a pitchers' duel that featured 11 strikeouts for each hurler. The outing was Ridings' best of his career as he threw a complete game one-hitter to top McDaniel, which was then ranked No. 21 in the nation. Designated hitter Nick Ott did some of the heavy lifting on offense, going 4-for-4 and hitting two home runs. In the second game, the Green Terror jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after the third inning and never looked back. McDaniel starter Brad Thaxton allowed just one run in seven innings to stifle the Haverford offense.

Over the course of the regular season, Ott led the team in home runs (five) and in batting average (.340). Along with Ridings, starting pitcher Justin Herring carried the bulk on the mound. Herring ranked first in the league in ERA with a 1.45 average. Ridings placed third in strikeouts with 66.

Haverford swept both Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg in their season series, making the Fords 5-1 against Centennial Conference playoff opponents this season. Head Coach Dave Beccaria's team carried a 13-6 record through the month of April and has won its last four games. Most notably, the Fords closed out their season with a doubleheader sweep of Gettysburg in which they outscored the Bullets 35-5 and hit a program-record six home runs in the first game.

Beccaria's team will look to contend for its third conference title in program history and first since 2014.