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Baseball Fends Off Bears, 5-3

Zach Becker
Zach Becker

HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team (17-17, 8-7 CC) used a solid pitching performance from Mike Rabayda and August Williams, along with a seventh-inning homer from Zach Becker, to glide to a 5-3 home win over Ursinus (11-23, 4-11 CC) on Tuesday afternoon as the final week of the Centennial Conference regular season began in earnest with a crowded playoff picture still very much to be decided. 

The penultimate home date on the schedule started auspiciously for the Fords as Haverford tagged Ursinus starter David Kratz for four hits and three runs in the first inning. After Rabayda's scoreless top of the first, Harry Genth led off the inning with a double into center field and stole third. Anthony Runfola tallied a sacrifice fly, plating Genth, and Becker then singled and advanced into scoring position on a balk. Kyle Beach walked, setting the stage for a double from Zach Buck to score Becker for a 2-0 lead. The Fords added a run on Zach Landry's RBI single.

Matteo Falco homered off Rabayda in the second, and Jakob Cantor also launched a solo shot in the fifth, trimming the Haverford lead to just one at 3-2. Rabayda was masterful aside from those two blemishes, surrendering just four hits and striking out eight in five innings of work, turning away eight of the 19 batters he faced via the strikeout. Rabayda is second in the Centennial Conference with 84 strikeouts and leads the conference in K/9 ratio with 13.19 per nine innings of work. 

August Williams took over to start the sixth, and allowed a one-out double to Solomon Griffith. Griffith eventually came in to score as a passed ball moved him to third before Ursinus tied the score on a wild pitch. 

Williams recovered to strike out Peter Balos, and twirled a perfect seventh inning. Genth was hit by a pitch leading off the seventh, and David Morgan took over in relief of Joey Mullen. After two consecutive fielder's choice outs at second base, Becker launched a towering two-run home to left field with Runfola on first, putting Haverford up 5-3. The homer was Becker's fourth of the season for Becker as he is now tied for the team lead with Zach Buck.

Williams (5-3) worked around a two-out walk in the eighth, and pitched through traffic in the ninth as Ursinus got the tying run into scoring position with a steady rain falling at Kannerstein Field. Williams struck out the side, fanning Falco before retiring Cantor on a full-count to preserve another key conference win. 

Williams struck out six and walked two over his four frames, surrendering just two hits and an unearned run. Becker was the only player on either team with multiple hits in the afternoon. 

The Fords will now wrap up the home-and-home series with the Bears in Collegeville on Friday. First pitch for that contest is slated for 3:30 p.m before the Fords return home for the regular season finale on Saturday with Johns Hopkins, a doubleheader with games slated for noon and 3 p.m.