LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (16-17, 8-5 CC) split its Centennial Conference (CC) doubleheader against Haverford (18-13, 8-6 CC) Saturday afternoon at Caplan Field. The Fords claimed a win in game one, 7-3, before the Diplomats run-ruled the visitors, 15-5, in game two.

Before the start of the twinbill, the F&M baseball team honored its seven seniors during a pregame ceremony. Those seniors included Spencer Berson, Drew Butera, Patrick Cettina, Jakob Hoffman, Thomas McLaughlin, Jason Schulman, and Evan Varga.

Game 1: Haverford 7, Franklin & Marshall 3
Tied 2-2 going into the top of the fourth, Haverford pushed across three runs in the frame to take control of the lead. From that point, the Fords grew their lead to as much as five runs. The Diplomats scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, but the deficit was too great to overcome.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Matt Hollender led off the inning with a double into the left center field gap. After a groundout advanced Hollender to third, the Diplomats' catcher was brought home on a sacrifice fly from Berson to get F&M within one. Bobby Falese was then hit by a pitch and Michael von Zuben singled to put runners at the corners. The next batter, Hoffman tied the game as he ripped a single through the left side of the infield to score Falese.

Five different Diplomats recorded two hits as Franklin & Marshall tallied 12 total hits in the contest.

Kiernan Keller (1-3) was hit with the loss as he struck out four and allowed four earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched.

Game 2: Franklin & Marshall 15, Haverford 5 (7 Innings)
The Diplomats plated 10 total runs in the first two innings of the contest en route to a run-rule victory over the Fords in game two.

After Haverford scored two runs in the top of the first, F&M responded in the bottom of the frame with Falese and von Zuben both hitting singles to put runners at the corners with one out. A single from Butera up the middle plated Falese to get the Diplomats into the scoring column. After a fielding error loaded the bases, Andrew Filippelli worked a two-out walk to bring home von Zuben to tie the game. The next batter, Varga singled to left field – scoring two and giving F&M a 4-2 advantage.

The Diplomats continued their momentum in the bottom of the second as Falese and von Zuben put themselves in scoring position for Hoffman to uncork a triple down the right field line to clear the bases and extend the lead to 6-2. Desautels and Filippelli both walked to load the bases for Varga to get hit by a pitch, which brought home a run to push the lead to 7-2. A walk to Cettina and an infield single by Berson added two more runs for F&M to extend its lead to 10-2 after two innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, F&M worked the bases loaded for Filippelli to lace a single to bring in Falese and extend the lead to 11-2. After Haverford added two runs in the top of the sixth, Cettina reached base on an error to begin the bottom half of the inning. After two groundouts allowed Cettina to advance all the way to third base, the senior scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 12-4. Following a walk to von Zuben, Hoffman roped a double into right center to score the sophomore from first. A single up the middle from Butera allowed Hoffman to score to grow the lead to 10.

Haverford kept the game alive in the top of the seventh, but that was short-lived as Hoffman worked a two-out bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the inning to complete the run-rule victory over the Fords.

Hoffman ended the game a home run shy of the cycle as he recorded three hits and four RBI in the win. Berson, Butera, and Varga each tallied two hits, while Varga recorded three RBI in the contest.

Peter Mullen (4-2) earned the win on the mound, striking out seven and allowing two earned runs in 5.1 innings of work. Mateo Sucre pitched well out of the bullpen as he struck out three and didn't allow an earned run in 1.2 inning of relief.

Franklin & Marshall returns to Caplan Field on Sunday for its makeup game against Swarthmore, beginning at 11:00 a.m.