UNION, N.J. - The Haverford College baseball team (0-1) headed north for the season opener on Thursday afternoon, traveling to the campus of Kean (6-1) for the lid-lifter with the Cougars. Haverford came up just short, as a four-run eighth inning helped the hosts pull away late for a 9-5 victory under the lights.
Both squads scored in each of the first three innings in an early seesaw battle. Haverford looked strong out of the gates, as Harry Genth laced a seeing-eye single into left field on the very first pitch of the 2023 campaign. The leadoff hitter promptly stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball, scoring on an error as Haverford again displayed its relentless approach to getting base runners on, over, and home, by any means necessary.
Riley Grohowski (L, 0-1) got the start on the mound for the Fords, and ran into a spot of trouble as Kyle Adorno and Brett Hilsheimer each singled ahead of a one-out three-run homer from Phil Marcantonio that put the hosts up 3-1 in the first inning.
Haverford pushed across single runs in the second and third against Kean starter Nick Nemes (W, 1-0), with the rally in the second coming after Kyle Beach and Jack Wallis each punched singles through the infield, and first year Chuck Norton walked to load the bases. Daniel Rosman took a bases-loaded walk to pull the Fords back within one. In the third, Jonny Flieder laced a leadoff double down the right field line, and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Beach.
The Fords faced a 5-3 deficit after the first three innings, but both pitchers settled down nicely to look in for a solid duel. Nemes wiggled out of trouble in the fourth and Norton picked off a runner and caught one stealing in the bottom of the fourth to help Grohowski notch a clean inning. Wyatt Mattison took over on the hill in the fifth, and twirled a 1-2-3 frame, later working deftly around a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth. The Fords cut the Kean lead back to just one in the seventh, with walks to Zach Crampton and Rosman setting the stage for a Genth sacrifice fly.
Norton caught another runner stealing in the bottom of the seventh, as Mattison worked around a base runner, but Kean pushed four runs across in the eighth, starting the frame with four consecutive baserunners before Steve Petrosh knocked a single to right field to plate a pair. At the end of eight, Kean was ahead 9-4 with designs on a quick ninth.
Haverford had others plans, as the Fords mounted a ninth-inning rally with Wallis singling to right and Norton drawing a walk before Crampton plated Wallis with a single. Genth found his way on via the walk, but Kean went to the bullpen for Noah Rivera, who was able to slam the door shut, picking up his first save of the year.
Wallis had a three-hit day for Haverford to begin his sophomore campaign. Mattison tallied three strikeouts in his 3.1 innings of relief, while Sam Cohen made his debut on the mound in the eighth inning.
The Fords now continue a pre-Spring Break stint through the Garden State, heading back up to the New York City metro area for a battle with New Jersey City on Sunday at noon. A live video stream and live stats will be available for the contest via hav.to/coverage.