LANCASTER, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team (16-17, 7-7 CC) was defeated by Franklin & Marshall (20-13, 11-3 CC) in both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday at Caplan Field in Lancaster. Haverford fell 15-3 in the first contest before a wild back-and-forth game went the way of the Diplomats in 10 innings by an 8-7 final in game two.
In game one, the story of the contest was Franklin & Marshall's 12-run fifth inning that put things away. Haverford sent Martin Matsumura (2-4) to the hill for the first game, while F&M countered with Kyle Roche (3-3). Matsumura struck out six and walked four in his 4.1 innings of work.
Roche quickly set Haverford down in order in the first two frames, as the Diplomats added three runs in the third, with Bobby Falese's two-RBI single leading that effort. The two sides then swapped scoreless frames until the aforementioned fifth inning, when F&M sent 16 batters to the plate. A grand slam from Will Samuel proved to be the knockout punch. The Fords added the final three runs of the contest, as Zach Buck homered in the seventh and singled in the ninth to reflect the 15-3 final score. Dali Pomfret worked a scoreless eighth inning on the mound.
In game two, Haverford found its rhythm in the third inning after F&M pushed across runs in each of the first two innings against opener Eric Kopczynski. In a third inning rally, Haverford loaded the bases with no out for Luke Smith, who reached on an infield single to plate Haverford's first run of the game. Anthony Runfola continued his torrid week with a single through the left side of the infield, putting Haverford ahead by a 3-2 score. The Diplomats had an immediate answer in the bottom of the third, with three runs on five hits as the momentum swung back to the hosts with a 5-3 advantage.
Haverford added a run on the fifth as Runfola continued to impress with a double to left and Jonny Flieder tied things in the sixth with his double to right in the sixth ahead of an RBI single from Smith that gave Haverford the lead at 6-5. F&M again tied things in the sixth with a double from Spencer Berson, and took the lead in the bottom of the eighth as Pat Elliott tripled and came into score on Tommy Denlinger's RBI single. Haverford had another rally in the ninth inning. Smith singled to lead off the frame, and Runfola walked. Zach Becker grounded into a double play, moving Smith to third but putting Haverford down to its final out. Kyle Beach shook off the pressure and delivered on a towering RBI double to right field, tying the score at 7-7 heading to the bottom of the ninth.
August Williams kept things tied with a quick 1-2-3 inning and Haverford had a strong scoring chance in the top of the 10th before Shane Rebane wriggled out of a jam to send the Diplomats back to the bats in the 10th. F&M manufactured a run to win the contest as AJ Desautels was hit by a pitch and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a wild pitch. Drew Butera then hit a comebacker to Williams with Desautels running on contact from third. The throw home was not in time as F&M was able to escape with a walk-off victory to secure the sweep.
Haverford pitching combined for 10 strikeouts in the nightcap, with Josh Fuller serving in a bulk innings role, firing 5.2 innings and allowing two runs while striking out eight. Williams was tagged with a tough-luck loss after pitching 1.2 no-hit frames. Offensively, the Fords had four doubles in the contest, and coaxed four walks. Luke Smith went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI to lead the charge in game two, complementing another huge day from Runfola.
Baseball now returns to action with two Centennial Conference series remaining on the slate. Haverford hosts the opener of a home-and-home series with Ursinus on Tuesday, April 26 (3:30 p.m.) before heading to Collegeville on Friday, April 29 (3:30 p.m.) to complete that series. Haverford then hosts its regular season finale against Johns Hopkins on Saturday, April 30 with doubleheader action slated for noon and 3 p.m. on Kannerstein Field.