BALTIMORE, Md. - The fifth-seeded Haverford College baseball team (20-20) continued the Centennial Conference tournament at Babb Field on Thursday afternoon, taking on the nation's No. 1 ranked team, top-seeded Johns Hopkins (37-3). Johns Hopkins eventually came away with a 5-2 win to advance in the winner's bracket in the double elimination championship format.
Lefty Wyatt Mattison got the start on the hill for Haverford, and worked around a baserunner in the first inning, retiring the side with a trio of flyouts. Johns Hopkins scored its first run of the contest on a Caleb Cyr sacrifice fly in the second, after Shawn Steuerer then doubled to lead off the frame and took third on a groundout.
Mattison finished with three innings of two-hit ball, surrendering just the one run. The Blue Jays rallied against new pitcher August Williams in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with no outs after a trio of singles. Williams struck out Caleb Cyr and then induced a double play off the bat of Jimmy Stevens on the very next pitch, escaping the situation without any damage in a stellar showing.
Williams was not able to avoid damage in the fifth inning, as Dylan Whitney and Alex Shane singled ahead of a three-run homer from Matthew Cooper, as suddenly Johns Hopkins had a 4-0 advantage with just one out.
Jonny Flieder doubled with one out in the fifth, giving Haverford another spark, but was stranded at third as Kieran Collins worked out of trouble, finishing six shutout innings on the hill for the Blue Jays.
Norton doubled with one away in the seventh, and Crampton followed with a single through the left side, taking third on a throwing error from the Johns Hopkins' left fielder as the Fords had multiple runners in scoring position for the first time in the contest. Collins again worked around the trouble, inducing a flyout off the bat of Pranav Rane and getting Daniel Rosman to ground out.
Haverford put runners on the corners in the eighth, with Harry Genth and Zach Landry each walking against new pitcher Matt Savedoff and Genth stealing third, but Savedoff got out of the jam as Zach Becker was retired via flyout to end the frame.
Haverford struck for two runs in the ninth inning, putting a scare into the Jays in the final frame. Norton walked, and JHU went to the bullpen, summoning Ben Keever. Crampton blistered a double off the right-field wall, moving Norton to third.
With one down, Daniel Rosman knocked a double down the left field line, plating Norton, and Harry Genth followed with an RBI groundout, scoring Crampton, as suddenly JHU was only up by three runs. Keever recovered to get out of the ninth without further damage.
Collins was a standout for the hosts, tossing seven innings, scattering just five hits and not allowing a run. Mitchell Pagano and Colin Lewis notched the final three frames for the Fords. Pagano allowed a run on two hits, with Lewis logging a scoreless eighth.
Offensively, Norton and Crampton each added a pair of hits, with Haverford adding four doubles on the afternoon.
The Centennial Conference tournament continues on Saturday, with the Fords facing off with Dickinson in the fourth game of the Centennial Conference tournament. The contest with the Red Devils is slated for a 9 a.m. start at Babb Field in Baltimore.