HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College baseball team (19-13, 9-6 CC) maintained its position in the tightly contested Centennial Conference playoff race with a 7-4 victory over Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore (18-16, 8-7 CC) on Tuesday afternoon at Kannerstein Field.
The Fords wasted no time getting going, scoring five runs in the opening two innings despite registering just one hit. Garnet starter Joshua Rankey struggled with control, issuing six walks in 1.1 innings of work. Daniel Rosman led off with a walk, followed by walks to Kendrick Curry II and Chuck Norton. Kyle Beach then drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Fords on the scoreboard first.
Pitcher Sam Cohen held Swarthmore scoreless through the first two frames, striking out two and allowing only one hit. In the bottom of the second, Haverford capitalized on its patience at the plate once again. Pranav Rane and Rosman drew consecutive walks, setting the stage for Harry Genth to also reach base on a walk against Swarthmore's new pitcher, Jeremy Jensen.
Curry continued his impressive performance in April with a grand slam to right field, extending the Fords' lead to 5-0 and firing up the home dugout in a pivotal late season game. Since April 10, Curry has been red hot, as he boasts a .424 batting average with 14 hits, 11 RBI, three home runs, eight runs scored, and two stolen bases.
Colin Lewis entered the game in the third inning and navigated around an infield single from Swarthmore's Aidan Sullivan to deliver a scoreless frame. Jensen settled in for the visitors, pitching a scoreless third inning. Both Lewis and Jensen delivered scoreless innings in the fourth, with Lewis working around another infield single before the Fords added a sixth run in the fifth.
In the fifth inning Haverford manufactured a key run with Michaelangelo Duva pitching for Swarthmore, Norton walked, Wallis was hit by a pitch, Beach reached on an infield single, and Jonny Flieder drove in a run with a groundout to second base.
New pitcher Michael Lewis helped right the ship for the Garnet in the sixth, and the visitors then made some noise in the seventh. With two down and one runner on, Sullivan was hit by a pitch. Matt Silvestre then reached on an error that plated a run. Aidan O'Sullivan was summoned from the bullpen and walked Ben Buchman before Jett Shue punched a single through the left side and Max Beadling followed with a single through the right side as suddenly, Swarthmore was right back in the contest just down two.
Michael Lewis twirled a 1-2-3 seventh, and Drew Doyle responded by stranding a leadoff baserunner in the eighth. Haverford added an insurance run in the eighth as Flieder walked to leadoff the inning and went to second on a sacrifice bunt from Mauro DeCillis. With two down, Rosman singled into right field for the seventh run of the contest.
Doyle sealed the victory with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, earning his third save of the season. Colin Lewis earned the win, pitching 4.2 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out two batters.
Haverford and Franklin & Marshall are currently tied for fourth place in the Centennial Conference standings with 9-6 records. Swarthmore trails by one game at 8-7 in conference play as the top five teams in the standings at the end of the season will make the Centennial Conference tournament.
The Fords will now travel to Swarthmore for the final game of the home-and-home series on Friday, April 26, with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.