FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Haverford College baseball team (3-4) built an early lead and relied on a steady effort from its bullpen to secure a 4-3 victory over Hiram (2-7) on Thursday afternoon at Terry Park, a contest part of the 36th annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
Haverford plated three runs in the opening two innings and later added a key insurance run in the seventh before holding off a late push from the Terriers. The Fords finished with eight hits, while Hiram collected 10, but Haverford pitching combined for 10 strikeouts and worked out of several jams to preserve the win.
Miles Prusek paced the Haverford offense with a 3-for-5 performance and scored twice, while Luke Treese added two hits and an RBI. Mauro DeCillis chipped in a pair of hits and stole two bases as the Fords generated early pressure on the basepaths in the the triumph.
Haverford struck first in the opening inning after loading the bases. Cole Roman reached on a Hiram error that allowed Prusek to score the game's first run. Moments later, Ryan Field worked a bases-loaded walk to bring home Luke Treese and give the Fords a 2-0 advantage. The Fords added another run in the second inning as Prusek singled and advanced to second ahead of Treese, who lined an RBI single to right field to score Prusek, stretching the lead to 3-0.
Hiram began to chip away in the third when Luke Snider delivered an RBI double to right field. The Terriers trimmed the deficit to one run in the fifth inning behind Logan Gallentine's RBI single to make it a 3-2 contest. Haverford regained some breathing room in the seventh inning. With Will Schroen aboard after a leadoff single, Prusek doubled to move the pair into scoring position, Jackson Sgro lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that plated Schroen and pushed the Fords' lead to 4-2.
The Terriers threatened again in the eighth inning, cutting the margin to one when a run scored during a ground-ball double play with the bases loaded. However, Haverford reliever Drew Doyle shut the door over the final two innings to earn his first save of the season.
Ben Pew got the start for Haverford, working 2.1 innings and striking out two. Andrew Schindler (1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Leo Barta followed with 2.1 innings and two strikeouts of his own, while Kiran Sen fanned two in a brief appearance. Doyle recorded the final six outs to seal the victory, pitching around late traffic as the Terriers put runners in scoring position in each of the final two innings. All five Haverford pitchers finished with exactly two strikeouts.
Haverford returns to action at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Friday with doubleheader action against Skidmore (9 a.m.) and Rockford (12 p.m.) in the penultimate day of action from Florida.
