FORT MYERS, Fla. - Opening up its first day of action at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Southwest Florida, the Haverford College baseball team (2-2) earned a pair of victories over Saint John's (Minnesota) (2-4). The Fords prevailed by a 6-5 final in the first game of the seven-inning doubleheader, before coming back in the second game and winning in extra innings, taking an 11-5 decision in eight frames.
The Fords earned a walk-off in the first game, with Mike Rabayda getting the ball to make his second start of the season. He twirled 5.2 innings, striking out six Johnnies. A two-RBI double from Zach Landry gave the Fords an early lead in the first and Harry Genth later put the Fords up 4-3 with an RBI in the fifth. Saint John's went back ahead in the sixth inning, but the Fords responded with runs in the sixth and seventh innings to wrestle back momentum. A Jonny Flieder RBI single tied the contest, leading to the walk-off rally in the seventh.
Harry Genth was hit by a pitch ahead of a Landry single and a walk to Zach Buck to load the bases, putting Saint John's in a difficult situation with the winning run standing at third. Jack Wallis stepped up with the bases juiced and no outs and delivered the winning run with a pinch hit sacrifice fly, scoring pinch runner Anthony Runfola to give Haverford it's first victory of the young season.
Riley Grohowski (1-0) picked up the win in relief, scattering one hit and one walk while striking out one in 1.1 innings of work.
In the second game, Haverford's offense picked up where it left off, scoring a run in the opening frame against Saint John's starter Kody Dlane. Zach Becker doubled home Luke Smith to start things, and Haverford was off and running from that point.
A three-run rally for the Johnnies stymied starter August Williams, but Haverford clawed back with a "Zach attack", adding another double from Becker in the third ahead of RBI singles from Zach Crampton and Buck in the sixth and seventh to knot the score at 5-5. Heading into the extra frame with the two sides deadlocked, a big eighth inning rally delivered the contest for the Fords. Pranav Rane put the Fords up with an RBI double, and Haverford piled on insurance runs with Landry, Anthony Runfola and Mitchell Pagano all delivering RBI in the six-run frame.
In total, Haverford banged out 11 runs on 15 hits in the afternoon contest. Becker notched a two-hit game, with 3 RBI, while Kevin Casey (1-0) logged two scoreless innings of relief, picking up the win with three strikeouts.
Haverford now faces a quick turnaround, with a nine-inning morning contest on the docket against Otterbein (Ohio) tomorrow at 9 a.m. as the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic continues in earnest. A live audio stream and live stats will be made available via Otterbein's Sports Information department.