FORT MYERS, Fla. - Facing a tough test in No. 16 Wooster, the Haverford College baseball team (2-4) proved to be more than up to the challenge, registering a convincing 17-6 win over the Fighting Scots (0-2) on Monday afternoon in Fort Myers. The Fords banged out 18 hits, including eight doubles, to storm past Wooster with key contributions up and down the lineup. The barrage included a six-run second frame as well as a five-run fourth. Haverford added a pair of runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth innings respectively, cruising to victory in the Florida sunshine.
Owen Plambeck led the charge, as the senior was one of six Haverford hitters with multiple hits on the afternoon. Less than a week after Will Karp matched a program record with three doubles, Plambeck also reached that mark, helping key the two big rallies on the day for the Fords.
Dylan Livingston (1-0) picked up the win in another impressive performance against Wooster, following up his 2018 gem with five innings of work, allowing five hits, four runs, and striking out five. Lucas Greenbaum and Kevin Casey were both effective in relief outings to nail down the victory. The staff combined for 10 strikeouts in the contest.
Haverford opened the floodgates in the second with a two-out rally. Harrison Burns singled and Karp walked, and after a passed ball, Zach Landry singled in the pair for a 2-0 advantage. Consecutive singles from Luke Smith and Luke Wallis made the score 3-0, and after Grant Schwartz was hit by a pitch, Plambeck cleared the bases, blasting his first double of the day to put Haverford in command with a 6-0 cushion.
Wooster struck back with a single run in its half of the second, but another big frame was in store for the Fords in the fourth. Landry singled and Smith walked before two-out production again became the theme. Plambeck drilled his second double in as many at bats, and Zach Becker followed that strike with a majestic two-bagger of his own. The doubles theme continued following a Ben Somorjai HBP, as Burns found himself safely at second after knocking in a pair for an 11-1 advantage.
Wallis added a run with his RBI double in the fifth, and Grant Schwartz tacked on an RBI single later in the frame to extend the lead to 13-1. The Fords scored four more runs in the latter innings, adding a pair in the seventh on a hit by pitch and walk with the bases loaded, before consecutive RBI groundouts in the eighth from Smith and Wallis.
Every starter reached base safely for the Fords, with Plambeck's five RBI representing a game-best. The Fords are now 2-1 all-time against Wooster, with two wins in three tries against a ranked Fighting Scots side. The victory was Haverford's first over a ranked side overall since last April, when the Fords outlasted then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins at Kannerstein Field.
Baseball now returns to action tomorrow as the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic rolls on, getting on the field early with a doubleheader slated against Hiram. First pitch of game one in Fort Myers is scheduled for 9 a.m.