Casey Jonesing for Hits, Bullets Slow Garnet Train
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Garnet sophomore Conor Casey had seven hits and scored two runs while junior catcher Andy Bender added five hits and three RBIs as hometown Swarthmore dropped a pair of Centennial Conference games to Gettysburg at sunny Clothier Fields Saturday afternoon. The Bullets rallied to win game one, 10-5, and held off a late Swarthmore charge to claim the second game by the score of 10-7.
Swarthmore (4-22 overall, 2-14 CC) held a late 4-2 lead in game one (a scheduled seven-inning affair), but eight miscues in the field proved to be their undoing.
Gettysburg scored three runs in the top of the seventh, fueled by a pair of Swarthmore errors, to take a 5-4 lead. Swarthmore refused to roll over in their final at-bat. Freshman Jimmy Gill smoked his first career triple into right field and scored on sophomore Grant Yoshitsu's single to center to tie the game at 5-all
The Bullets (21-6 overall, 10-4 CC) benefited from extra outs in the top of the ninth, scoring five unearned runs to bust the game open. Once again, resilient Swarthmore looked to even the score, loading the bases in the bottom of the inning, but Gettysburg reliever Packer Larson (1-1) got the final two outs to pick up the victory.
Garnet junior starting pitcher Justin Chen tossed 6.2 innings, allowing only three hits and no earned runs. Reliever Scott Dalane (1-1) suffered the loss after 2.0 innings of work.
Casey went 3-for-5 with two runs in game one while Bender and Gill chipped in two hits apiece. Senior Noah Cooper-Harris accounted for two RBIs, coming on a fourth-inning double.
The Bullets scored early and often in the second game, racing out to an 8-1 lead after three innings. Swarthmore fought back for two runs in the fifth as Wiley Archibald '10, Sammy Faeder '07 and Dalane loaded the bases with three straight hits. Gill and Yoshitsu both picked up RBIs with ground outs.
Mark Campo doubled in Pat Hanley for the Bullets in the seventh and scored on Cory Beddick's single to right, putting the visitors in front 10-3.
The Garnet kept swinging the bats, picking up four runs in the final two frames to narrow the final margin.
Casey had a career-high four hits in the second game, scoring two times while driving in a pair. The sophomore infielder is white-hot at the plate, hitting .556 (10 for 18) in the last five games to boost his season average thiry-two points. Bender contributed the first three-hit game of his career while driving in two more runs. The catcher is hitting .474 (9 for 19) in the five games, bring his season average up to a season-high .321, second-best on the team.
Swarthmore plays a non-conference home game on Tuesday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m., hosting Lincoln University before concluding 2007 Centennial action with a 12:30 p.m. home doubleheader with Dickinson on Saturday, April 28.