Mike Schmandt, Haverford
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Haverford College baseball team swept the Gettysburg College Bullets with an 18-3 victory in game one and comeback 6-4 win in game two. Coupled with Washington College's two losses to Dickinson, the Fords qualified for the Centennial Conference playoffs for the eighth straight season.
Haverford College 18, Gettysburg College 3 – Game 1
Haverford took game one by throwing up crooked numbers in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Already ahead 1-0, the Fords tallied six runs in the second frame, led by RBI singles from sophomore Yannick Villanueva, junior Zach Taylor and an RBI double by freshman Mike Schmandt. In the fourth inning, RBI singles by Schmandt and Taylor put the Fords in front by eight. A passed ball gave the Fords their ninth run of the game and then a two-run single by freshman Ben Furlong set the score at 11-0.
Taylor doubled home two more runs followed by an RBI knock by junior Nick Ott in the fifth frame. Freshman Spencer Sohmer got into the act with an RBI fielder's choice to put the Fords up 16-0. Haverford added single runs in the sixth and ninth inning to wrap up the scoring.
Freshman Justin Herring went a career-best eight innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out three Gettysburg batters to pick up his second career victory.
Schmandt tied his career high with four hits while Taylor and Furlong nabbed three hits each. Taylor also set a career high with four RBI in the contest. Schmandt and senior Casey Fox touched home four times, tying them for the fourth most in a single game in program history. Sohmer also had three runs scored in the victory.
Haverford College 6, Gettysburg College 4 – Game 2
Senior Tommy Bergjans held the Bullets to just one hit until the home team broke through in the fourth inning. An error led to Gettysburg getting on the scoreboard with the first run of the game. One batter later, an RBI single by Henry Klimowicz gave the Bullets a 2-0 lead.
After putting runners in scoring position in three of the first five frames, the Fords finally got a run across in the sixth inning. With one out and runners on the corners, Somer ripped a base hit up the middle that cut the Fords' deficit in half. One inning later, the Fords took the lead with two runs. The first three batters reached before Schmandt singled to left to tie the score at two. A fielder's choice would give the Fords' a 3-2 advantage.
Haverford's lead wouldn't stick as Gettysburg retook the lead with two fielders' choices in the bottom of seventh inning. The Fords headed into their last at-bat down by a run. An RBI single by Taylor with one out tied the score for a third time. With runners on second and third, Ott hit a ground ball to the third baseman who stepped on bag, but threw the ball away. The first baseman then tried to throw Schmandt out at the plate, but the ball got away from the catcher and went out of the play, allowing Ott to touch home for the Fords' sixth run of the game.
The Bullets got a lead-off single in the ninth, but Bergjans struck out the side to secure the doubleheader sweep for the Fords.
Bergjans allowed just one earned run and struck out nine hitters. The senior now has 101 strikeouts this year, becoming the first Ford ever to strike out over 100 batters in a season. It's also his ninth career complete game.
The baseball team improves to 13-18 overall and 9-9 in the Centennial Conference while Gettysburg is now 20-14 this year and 9-9 in the conference. The Fords will now head to Centennial Conference playoffs, looking for their third title in the last four seasons.
Notable
Johns Hopkins earned the top seed for next weekend's Centennial tournament with a sweep of Muhlenberg. The Jays will host games 1, 3-7 for the fifth time since 2010 and look for their first Conference crown since 2011.
Franklin & Marshall will make its 10th tournament appearance and earned the #2 seed with a sweep of Swarthmore. The Diplomats last won the crown in 2013.
McDaniel earned the No. 3 seed and qualified for the Centennial tournament for just the third time with a twinbill sweep of Ursinus. The Terror is back in the field for the first time since 2012 and look for their first-ever Conference tournament win.
Tournament Schedule
Thursday (Game 1): Haverford at Johns Hopkins
Thursday (Game 2): McDaniel at Franklin & Marshall
Saturday (Game 3): losers of games 1 and 2
Saturday (Game 4): winners of games 1 and 2
Saturday (Game 5): winner of game 3 vs. loser of game 4
Sunday (Game 6): winners of games 4 and 5
Sunday (Game 7): if necessary
Games 3-4-5-6-7 at Johns Hopkins