UNION, N.J. - The Haverford College baseball team (0-2) opened up the 2022 season with a pair of tough losses on the campus of Kean University. Playing the host Cougars (7-0) in the season opener, Haverford fell by a 7-1 final before dropping a neutral-site contest to Misericordia (2-2), a Division III College World Series participant a season ago, by a 10-2 decision.
Taking the baseball for the opening day start against Kean was Mike Rabayda (0-1). In chilly conditions on the turf at Kean, Rabayda notched a 1-2-3 first inning before running into some trouble in the second. Kean rallied for a four-run frame, with three walks setting the stage for the Cougars to push across four runs on a double steal, squeeze bunt, and an RBI single from Kyle Adorno.
Rabayda was able to right the ship almost immediately, with two more scoreless frames before giving way to August Williams out of the bullpen. Rabayda finished with four innings tossed, allowing three hits, three walks, and collecting four strikeouts. Williams followed with three innings of one-hit baseball, while Luke Bessette made his collegiate debut tossing a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout to round out the game on the mound for the Fords.
Haverford struggled offensively against a top arm in Kean's Collin Kiernan, a transfer from Division I Rutgers. Kiernan scattered six hits and did not surrender a walk in his seven innings of stellar work, striking out 12 Fords. Kean struck for three more insurance runs in a seventh-inning rally before Haverford opened the eighth with a single from Luke Smith and a walk to Zach Landry, setting the tone for Zach Buck to score on an error. Buck had two hits to pace Haverford in the first contest.
In the late afternoon game with Misericordia, the Fords dropped a 10-2 decision to a strong Cougars side. Haverford scored its runs in the first frame, as Landry doubled and Buck singled, combining to bring home a pair. Josh Fuller (0-1) got the start for Haverford, scattering five hits and allowing four earned runs while striking out four.
Baseball will now have a week away from competition before the squad heads down to the Sunshine State of Florida for the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, with action slated from March 6 to March 12 in Fort Myers, Fla.