FORT MYERS, Fla. – On day two of Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic action, Haverford again split a doubleheader, prevailing over Thiel College 7-2 in the second of two contests after dropping the first to the Tomcats 13-3. Jared Deveau (1-0) picked up the win in the second contest with 5.1 innings of hitless baseball from the mound. The Fords sit at 2-2 after the pair of contests on Monday while Thiel is now 2-1 on the young season.
In the morning contest, Haverford starter Nathan Vucovich (0-1) got into some early trouble as Thiel pushed across three runs in the first frame and added two more in the second to go ahead 5-0 after just two innings. Thomas Vollaro picked up an RBI double in the bottom of the second, cutting the lead to 5-1.
Zach Hudecek hit a two-run home run off of Yannick Villanueva in the fourth and a four-run fifth frame gave Thiel a commanding advantage in the first game. Haverford made some noise in the seventh inning, as Harrison Burns and Will Karp both punched singles through the left side of the infield before Ethan Lee-Tyson singled to score Burns and Nick Perez coaxed a walk ahead of a Ben Verducci single that plated Karp.
The afternoon contest belonged to Haverford as the Fords turned the tables on the Tomcats with their own early runs, plating runners in each of the first four frames.
As was the case in the season opener against John Carroll, Haverford scored before an out was recorded in the game as Karp singled and Lee-Tyson rocketed a double to right field, scoring Karp in the first inning.
In the second inning, Haverford got the best of Thiel starting pitcher Tanner Teconchuk as Owen Plambeck singled into left field and Jared Turner doubled, putting two runners in scoring position. Thomas Vollaro singled up the middle, scoring a pair for an early 3-0 Haverford lead.
Ben Verducci tripled and scored on a balk in the third and Lee-Tyson hammered a three-run homer in the fourth as Haverford went up 7-0.
The cushion would be plenty for Haverford senior co-captain Deveau, who had a stellar performance on the mound in victory. Deveau held the Tomcats hitless through 5.1 innings, surrendering just a walk and a hit baseman in that stretch. Deveau struck out four, keeping the hot Thiel bats at bay and allowing Haverford to split the day with his performance on the mound.
Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic action continues with a 3:00 p.m. game against Anna Maria (Mass.) on Tuesday afternoon before Haverford is off on Wednesday.