WESTMINSTER, Md. - The Haverford College baseball team (14-12, 4-5 CC) split a Centennial Conference doubleheader with McDaniel (15-11, 6-3 CC) on Preston Field Saturday afternoon. After taking game one 10-1, the Fords dropped game two 10-4.
Haverford 10, McDaniel 1
Defending Centennial Conference pitcher of the year Mike Rabayda continued his dominance on the mound, giving up just one run in six innings, while striking out eight against just two walks.
In the batter's box Mauro DeCillis went 2-4 with three runs, three RBIs, and a home run. Harry Genth led the Fords with 3 hits, while Daniel Rosman and Jonny Flieder both contributed two knocks each.
The Green Terror struck in the first inning, putting up one run, before Haverford plated three runs in the fourth frame. After Fleider reached second base off a fielding error, Kendrick Curry II scurried to third base, then came around to score off a throwing error from McDaniel's Matt Speakman, to score the first run. DeCillis knocked in Flieder of an RBI-single to right field, before Daniel Rosman doubled home DeCillis, to give the Scarlet and Black a 3-1 lead.
Rabayda continued to shutdown McDaniel, before the Fords broke open the game in the sixth inning. With runners on the corners, Genth sacrifice bunted DeCillis home, to increase the visitor's lead to 4-0. After a Chuck Norton walk that put runners on first and second, a Jack Wallis two-run double knocked in Rosman and Norton, giving the Scarlet and Black a commanding 7-1 lead. An RBI-single from Kyle Beach tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth, as the Fords took a comfortable 8-1 lead into the bottom half of the sixth inning.
Decillis haunted the Green Terror once again in top of the seventh, blasting a two-run home run to right field, to give the Scarlet and Black a 9-1 lead, before Flieder crossed home plate on a wild pitch in the ninth frame, to push the Haverford lead to 10-1.
Drew Doyle closed out the game for the Fords, shutting the door on McDaniel, by throwing three scoreless innings to give Haverford a 10-1 game one victory.
McDaniel 10, Haverford 4
Game two saw Daniel Rosman pace the Fords in hits and RBIs with two each, while Chuck Norton, Kendrick Curry II, and Jonny Fleider all got on base with one knock each.
Riley Grohowski tossed five innings in the defeat, giving up eight runs (three earned), while fanning four batters.
After McDaniel tagged Grohowski for three runs in the first frame, the Fords got on the board in the top of the fourth. Harry Genth scored off an RBI-ground out from Norton, to pull the Scarlet and Black within three runs, 4-1, headed into the bottom of the fourth. Despite the Fords getting on the board, McDaniel took advantage of two errors in the field, to go up 6-1 with five innings to go.
Following two more runs scored by the Green Terror in the bottom of the fifth, Haverford showed some life, plating two in the seventh inning. The Fords scored their second run of the game off a Mauro DeCillis walk that scored Kyle Beach, while Curry II scored in the next at-bat off a Rosman single.
Up 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh, McDaniel's Joey Hubinger capped off a four hit day by launching a two-run home run to left center field, to extend the host's lead to 10-3.
Haverford scored one more run in the ninth, as Beach came home after Rosman was hit by a pitch, but it was too little too late for the Fords, as the Green Terror claimed game two 10-4.
Next up for the Fords is a matchup with the Mules of Muhlenberg in Allentown, Pa, on Tuesday, April 16. First pitch for the Centennial Conference showdown is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.