BALTIMORE, Md. - The Haverford College baseball team (22-15) fell to No. 8 Johns Hopkins (30-9) by a 27-5 final in the second round of the Centennial Conference baseball tournament on Thursday afternoon at Babb Field.
A big first inning for the Blue Jays helped the hosts take command early. Blue Jays Starter Quinn Rovner worked around a one-out walk to Harry Genth in the top of the first frame, and in the bottom of the frame, Dylan Whitney connected on a home run to right field on the second pitch he saw from Sam Cohen.
After Alex Shane walked, Shawn Steuerer connected on a two-run homer out to the right field porch as suddenly, Johns Hopkins was showcasing its offensive prowess early up 3-0. Cohen got Dylan Souviginier to strikeout swinging, but Caleb Cyr added a solo shot to right for a 4-0 JHU advantage. The big inning continued for the Blue Jays, as the hosts were able to keep the line moving to pull ahead 14-0 after the first frame.
Haverford posted a run in the top of the second as Mauro DeCillis drew a walk with the bases loaded after Kyle Beach doubled, Jonny Flieder walked, and Matt Dahl singled to load the bases.
The Fords added two more runs in the fifth inning as pinch-hitter Luke Treese singled to center field and Kendrick Curry II walked ahead of another double from Beach. The Fords added their final two runs of the contest in the seventh, with Luke Shane roping a double into right center and Flieder following with a single up the middle.
Beach and Norton had two-hit days for Haverford, while Harry Genth narrowly missed a home run with a wall-scraping double in the eighth inning. Dali Pomfret pitched the final two innings for the Fords without allowing a hit and surrendering just one walk while striking out a Blue Jays' batter.
Haverford now returns to action on Saturday on Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium with a 10 a.m. first pitch against second-seeded Dickinson in a Centennial Conference tournament elimination game. The winner of that contest advances to a late afternoon matchup approximately 30 minutes after the 1:30 p.m. matchup between McDaniel and Johns Hopkins.
For more information on the Centennial Conference Baseball Championships, visit the tournament central page.