HAVERFORD, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall used a three-run eighth inning to break a late tie and slip past the Haverford College baseball team, 5-4, in Centennial Conference action on a sun-splashed Friday afternoon at Kannerstein Field.
Haverford (7-13, 1-3 CC) showed resilience throughout, erasing an early deficit and battling back to even the score late, but Franklin & Marshall (14-8, 2-2 CC) delivered the decisive surge in the eighth before holding on in the ninth.
After surrendering a two-run homer in the opening frame to Matt Hollender, starter Alex Jenkinson settled in brilliantly. The right-hander carved through the Diplomats' lineup, tossing seven innings of two-run ball while scattering six hits and striking out five without issuing a walk. Jenkinson retired 12 of his final 14 batters, giving Haverford the platform to rally.
The breakthrough came in the sixth. With one out, Mauro DeCillis, who reached base four times and swiped three bags, sparked the inning with a single and promptly stole second. Two batters later, Kaden Van Kempen turned on a pitch and launched it over the left-field fence, a game-tying, two-run shot that jolted the Fords back to life at 2-2 and gave the first-year his first career home run.
The momentum carried into the late innings, but the visitors struck decisively against the Haverford bullpen in the eighth. A go-ahead RBI single from Tanner Wolpert put Franklin & Marshall back in front before a two-run homer, again with Hollender doing the damage, extended the margin to 5-2.
True to form, the Fords refused to fold. In the bottom half, Ryan Field worked a leadoff walk and Luke Treese followed with a single to put the tying run aboard. After DeCillis drew another free pass to load the bases, Will Schroen lifted a sacrifice fly to bring the Fords within two. Moments later, Van Kempen delivered again, this time with an RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 5-4.
The Fords put the tying run on base in the ninth as Sam Dorian was hit by a pitch, but the rally stalled there as Franklin & Marshall's closer Kiernan Keller recorded a pair of strikeouts to end the threat for his second save of the season.
Haverford finished with nine hits on the afternoon, led by DeCillis' 3-for-3 performance from the sixth spot. Van Kempen drove in three runs, while Treese and Schroen each contributed key late-inning production.
Despite the loss, the Fords matched the Diplomats hit-for-hit, actually edging out Franklin & Marshall by a 9-8 tally, and played clean defense, committing no errors. The difference ultimately came down to the middle-of-the-order production from Wolpert and Hollender for the visitors, coupled with a steady bullpen effort that preserved the narrow lead down the stretch.
Baseball will look to bounce back with another Centennial Conference twinbill on the books for Saturday, April 4 as Haverford does battle with No. 15 Gettysburg at Kirchhoff Field in Gettysburg. First pitch of game one is slated for noon.
