Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Facing the top-ranked pitching staff in the Centennial Conference (CC), the Gettysburg College baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to nationally-ranked Haverford College in the CC regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field.

The Black Squirrels (29-6, 14-4 CC), entering the game with a 3.44 team ERA and ranked No. 29 in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Division III Poll, won the opener 6-0 on a six-hit shutout from Colin Sarafin before holding off a late Bullet rally in the nightcap to win 7-4.

Gettysburg's five seniors – Kyle Conklin, Cory Jackmuff, Matt Karis, Cam Riera, and Chris Simard – were honored in a brief ceremony before the game.

In the opener, Sarafin and Conklin locked up in a pitcher's duel early on, as the two hurlers threw shutout ball over the first three innings. Haverford threatened in the first, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but freshman Patrick O'Grady made the first of his two diving catches of the game to end the inning.

The Bullets (11-22, 5-13 CC) had their best scoring opportunity in the second, when junior Clint O'Brien smashed a towering triple to center. Then with two outs, Jackmuff drilled a liner up the middle that may have gotten through the infield but hit the base umpire, and O'Brien was forced to stay at third. Riera then drew a walk to load the bases, but Sarafin escaped with a comebacker to the mound.

Haverford broke through in the fourth when Mike Galetta doubled, stole third, and scored on a groundout. The visitors pushed their lead to 5-0 with a four-run, four-hit third that was capped by a two-run homer down the leftfield line by Charlie Carluccio, then tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. O'Grady prevented further damage when he made his second web gem to end the sixth – again with runners on second and third – diving to snag a sinking liner to left-center.

Sarafin (5-1) settled in after the second and retired 10 straight batters while allowing just two hits the rest of the way. He finished with three strikeouts and one walk en route to his first shutout of the season.

Conklin (0-3) threw his second complete game of the year, yielding 11 hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.

The second game was also a low-scoring affair in the early going, with starters Dan Hochberg and Brett Norton combining to allow just one run in the first five innings. The Black Squirrels went ahead 1-0 in the first when Jeff Butera drove in the game's first run with a two-out double.

Though he did not have a three-up, three-down inning, Norton kept Haverford off the scoreboard over the next four innings. He stranded a runner on third in both the third and fourth innings, and escaped after giving up a leadoff triple in the fourth.

In the meantime, Hochberg was just as impressive, facing the minimum through the first three innings and allowing only one hit through the first four frames. The Bullets threatened in the fifth when Riera drilled a two-out double into the left-center gap, but Hochberg responded with his third strikeout of the inning.

Haverford broke it open in the sixth and seventh, when it scored its final six runs. The Nos. 1-5 hitters did the bulk of the damage and finished the game 12-for-22 with all seven runs. The Squirrels pushed across two runs on three hits and an error in the sixth before breaking out with a four-run seventh. Butera provided the big blow when he capped the inning with a three-run homer against sophomore reliever John Donovan.

Gettysburg would not quit, however, and LeNoir gave the Bullets their first run of the day with an RBI-double down the rightfield line in the seventh. The hosts then put up a rally in the ninth, as Simard and Karis drew back-to-back walks leading off the inning against reliever Brett Cohen. Sophomore Pat Cody followed up with a single to load the bases, and two batters later LeNoir drove home another run with a scorcher up the middle that the second baseman knocked down in the infield for a single.

Patrick Falkoff was then called out of the pen with the bases loaded and one out. Falkoff induced a flyout before Jackmuff lined a pitch at the rightfielder, who lost the ball in the sun. The single brought in two more runs to make it 7-4, but Falkoff ended the game with a strikeout.

Hochberg (4-0) struck out seven while allowing just four hits, one run, and one walk over seven innings. Norton (1-5) gave up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and one walk while fanning three. Donovan worked the final 2 2/3 innings and was charged with one run on three hits and one walk while striking out one.

Butera finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs while leadoff hitter Louis DeRosa went 3-for-5. DeRosa did pick up his conference-leading 28th and 29th steals of the season, but he was also caught for just the second time all year when he was thrown out at second by Jackmuff in the ninth.

Cody and LeNoir each went 2-for-4 in the nightcap, with Cody scoring a pair of runs and LeNoir finishing with two RBIs.

Gettysburg closes out its season with a pair of non-conference games next week, visiting Penn State-Harrisburg on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. before hosting Susquehanna University on 4 p.m. on Wednesday.