ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Wrapping up a Centennial Conference home-and-home series with Muhlenberg, the Haverford College baseball team (16-15, 7-5 CC) notched a key win over the host Mules (13-18, 2-10 CC), prevailing by a final score of 17-7 at Cedarcreek Field in Allentown. Mike Rabayda got the ball for the Fords and again was brilliant in his five innings of work, allowing just three hits and striking out nine of the 18 batters he faced, leaving the Mules offense stifled in the early goings.
Rookie catcher Anthony Runfola continued his stellar first year campaign with four hits and four RBI while Zach Landry was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI. Harry Genth was a force at the top of the order with two hits, two RBI, and four runs scored while Luke Smith and Kyle Beach also all added two-hit days in the matinee.
Rabayda (5-4) set down the first four batters of the contest via strikeout, looking completely dominant in the first two frames with the Muhlenberg hitters heading back to the bench unable to catch up with the sophomore's movement and velocity.
Haverford plated its first runs in the top of the second as Kyle Beach scorched a single to center field ahead of a walk to Zach Buck. With two runners on, Landry punched a single of his own into left, plating Beach as a throwing error allowed two runners to cruise into scoring position. With two down, the pair each scored on a second fielding error that allowed Harry Genth to reach first. Suddenly the visitors sent Rabayda back out for his second inning of work with a three-run cushion.
Landry then laced a double down the left field line to begin the top of the fourth inning, and after Daniel Rosman was hit by a pitch, a perfect sacrifice bunt from Kendrick Curry II put two in scoring position for Genth. Genth, in a role he has played so frequently in 2022, reached on a bloop single into right-center field, plating Landry to extend the Haverford lead to 4-0.
A double steal from the pairing of Genth and Rosman put two more in scoring position and with two down in the frame, Runfola poked a single into center, plating the pair to extend the lead to 6-0. With the six-run cushion under his belt, Rabayda worked quickly in his second turn through the lineup. Jonathan Toth connected on a one-out solo shot in the bottom of the fourth, but Rabayda recovered to get out of the inning and then tossed a perfect fifth frame to send things into the hands of the bullpen.
Muhlenberg went to the bullpen themselves for the second time in the top of the sixth, and Genth again got on base with a two-out walk ahead of a single from Luke Smith. With Brendan Hughes in the contest with runners on the corners and two out, Runfola singled to left field, plating Haverford's seventh run of the game.
Buck then hit a one-out home run to lead off the top of the seventh, greeting new reliever Pete Tronosky with a towering shot to left. The Fords added four more runs in that frame, with Genth walking with the bases loaded before a two-RBI single from Smith and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Runfola.
Landry added an RBI single in the eighth, and Haverford pushed four more across in the top of the ninth, with Zach Becker launching a single in that rally before a passed ball, a double-play grounder and a wild pitch plated a run. Haverford's 17-run outburst matched a season-best that was also reached at Washington College on April 5.
Josh Fuller and Wyatt Mattison each pitched scoreless frames in support of Rabayda's gem. The Fords now continue Centennial Conference action on Saturday, April 23 heading to Lancaster, Pa. for a doubleheader against the Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall. First pitch of the twinbill is slated for noon.