HAVERFORD, Pa. – Junior
Joe Giovinco (Stirling, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) continued to rake the ball with four more hits and collected the 100th base knock of his career at Gettysburg College, but Haverford College came out with a pair of wins over the Bullets in Centennial Conference baseball action at Kannerstein Field Saturday afternoon.
Gettysburg (11-9, 0-2 CC) saw its four-game winning streak come to a close with an 8-1 loss in the opener at Haverford (9-9, 2-0 CC). The Fords jumped out with the first nine runs in the nightcap and held off a late rally by the Bullets for an 11-7 decision.
Giovinco needed just one hit to reach the milestone and took care of business with a single to center field in the seventh inning of game one. He finished the day with four total hits, raising his career total to 103 and his season batting average to .366. During his current nine-game hitting streak, Giovinco is hitting .462 (18-of-39) with multiple hits in all but two contests.
Outside of Giovinco and two hits from sophomore
Sean Murphy (Westfield, Mass./Westfield), the rest of the Gettysburg lineup managed just one additional hit against Haverford starter Nathan Bass. Bass allowed just three hits and didn't walk a batter while striking out 12 over seven innings of work to earn the victory for the Fords.
Haverford tagged starter
Jonny Bray (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) for six runs on 10 hits in the first three innings and added a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. Will Karp went 3-for-5 with two runs and Harrison Burns went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Fords.
The hosts jumped out to a big lead in the second game as Burns started the scoring with a two-run double in the first inning. Haverford scored nine runs off three Gettysburg pitchers in the first five innings.
The Bullets bounced back in a big way in the top of the sixth as Giovinco, junior
Ryan LaCoe (Hershey, Pa./Hershey), and Murphy all reached base to start the inning. Freshman
Shane Manieri (Harleysville, Pa./La Salle College) jumped into the batter's box and smashed his team-leading third home run of the season to clear the bags. It was Gettysburg's first grand slam since
Chuck Probst '18 hit two against Penn State York on March 23, 2017. The Bullets added an unearned run in the inning to close the gap to 9-5.
A double by LaCoe set up Murphy for a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Giovinco doubled home another run to pull Gettysburg within two runs (9-7) in the eighth inning. Haverford added some insurance with two runs in the bottom of the frame.
LaCoe finished 3-for-5 with two runs and Giovinco went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.
Andrew Johnson picked up the victory for the Fords with five scoreless innings. Luke Duris closed the final 1 2/3 innings for the save. Karp and Burns each produced two more hits and two RBI for Haverford.
Gettysburg hosts Johns Hopkins University Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.