HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team has announced its 2020 schedule. Haverford will be looking for a second consecutive trip to the Centennial Conference tournament in 2020. The Fords won 20 games during the 2019 season and advanced to the Centennial Conference Championship series for the eighth time in program history. The Fords have made the conference tournament during 13 of the past 15 seasons and have brought home the conference title on three occasions (2012, 2014, and 2016).
The 2020 season begins with an early-season trip to Kean, where the Fords will face off with the host Cougars and Susquehanna in a doubleheader. The Fords will be taking on Kean for the second straight season after the series was revived a season ago. Last season, Haverford took a 4-2 win over the Cougars, who were receiving votes in the national polls at the time. The Fords will then battle with Susquehanna for the first time since the 2011 season to close out a busy day in the Garden State.
A midweek test on the turf at Scranton (Mar. 4) is the final contest before the program's annual Spring Break trip to Fort Myers, Fla, where Haverford will compete in nine contests over a six-day span at the 2020 Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic (Mar. 8-14). Game times and opponents are still to be announced.
The Fords then return to Pennsylvania to kick off a slate of six consecutive home contests at Kannerstein Field. The homestand begins with a visit from Gwynedd Mercy (Mar. 17), before the Fords host a challenge from Immaculata (Mar. 20) and a non-conference doubleheader with Drew (Mar. 21).
Haverford then welcomes MIT to campus for a matchup on Monday, March 23. The Fords will be facing the Engineers for the first time in program history. MIT made the NCAA tournament a season ago, falling to Southern Maine in the NCAA Regionals after winning the NEWMAC tournament title over No. 6 Babson. The homestand continues with another tough test, as Haverford faces off with yet another NCAA tournament team from a season ago in Rowan (Mar. 25).
Haverford makes the quick trip to TCNJ (Mar. 26), and then wraps up the busy week with a doubleheader to open Centennial Conference play at Gettysburg (March 28). Three of the next four are at then home, with the Fords opening up a home-and-home series with Muhlenberg (March 31) before an April 1 showdown with Arcadia. Haverford makes the return trip to Allentown (Apr. 3), before reprising Centennial Conference doubleheader action on April 4 as Dickinson makes the trek from Carlisle to Kannerstein Field.
The next week is full of exclusively Centennial action, with a home-and-home series with Ursinus beginning in Collegeville (Apr. 7) and wrapping up in Haverford (Apr. 10). The Fords then head to Baltimore for a doubleheader rematch of the Centennial Conference Tournament final against a College World Series participant from a season ago in Johns Hopkins (Apr. 11). The annual rivalry series with Swarthmore is slated for Haverford on April 14 before the two sides square off at Swarthmore on April 17. The Fords host the final regular season home doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall (Apr. 18), before embarking on a five-game week to end the regular season.
That packed slate includes a late season trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland for a battle with Washington College (Apr. 21), before a quick jaunt to Eastern (Apr. 22). Haverford then hosts Washington College (Apr. 24), before heading back to Maryland for a doubleheader with McDaniel (Apr. 25).
The Centennial Conference tournament begins with the opening round contest slated for April 30 before the semifinals and finals at the site of the top-seeded team on May 2 and 3.