HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College baseball team (12-8, 1-2 CC) secured its first Centennial Conference win of the season Tuesday afternoon, using a six-run fourth inning to power past Franklin & Marshall (15-10, 1-2 CC) with an 11-4 victory at home on Kannerstein Field.

First-year pitcher David Bertz earned his second win of the season, throwing 6.1 innings while allowing six hits, four runs (one earned), and one walk, alongside seven strikeouts. At the plate, Matt Dahl led the offense with two hits, three RBI, a run scored, and a two-run homer. Joining him in the home run column in the matinee were Daniel Rosman and Harry Genth, who went back-to-back to open up the fourth inning. 

After Bertz and F&M's Kiernan Keller kept both offenses scoreless through two innings, the Diplomats broke through with a four-run third. Michael Von Zuben reached base on a Haverford error to lead off the inning and later scored on a two-run homer by AJ Desautels, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Tanner Wolpert was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for another two-run blast, this time from catcher Matt Hollender, extending F&M's advantage to 4-0.

After a quiet bottom of the third, Haverford's offense erupted in the fourth. Rosman and Genth opened the inning with back-to-back home runs, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Anthony Runfola followed with a triple to right-center and scored on an RBI single from Jack Wallis. Later in the inning, with two outs, Jonny Flieder drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Wallis then executed a daring steal of home to tie the game at 4-4. Jackson Sgro's RBI single brought home Flieder, and an RBI double from Luke Treese then scored Sgro, capping the six-run inning and giving the Fords a 6-4 lead.

A scoreless top of the fifth kept the momentum with Haverford, and the offense capitalized again in the bottom half. Genth led off by getting hit by a pitch and eventually advanced to third. Dahl then stepped up and crushed a two-run homer to left field, pushing the Fords' lead to 8-4. Later in the inning, after Chuck Norton and Flieder were hit by pitches, Sgro delivered another RBI single, scoring Norton and extending the lead to 9-4.

Bertz continued to stifle F&M's offense in the sixth before the Fords tacked on two more runs in the bottom half, thanks to RBI singles from Wallis and Dahl, making it 11-4 heading into the seventh.

With a runner in scoring position and one out in the seventh, Drew Doyle came on in relief and worked out of a jam to preserve the seven-run advantage. He returned to the mound for the final two innings, tossing a pair of scoreless frames to close out the 11-4 win for Haverford.

Haverford will next face Franklin & Marshall again on Friday, April 4, at Penn Medicine Park, home of the Lancaster Stormers, with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m.