Bears Deny Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Ursinus Bears displayed their hitting power at Clothier Fields Wednesday afternoon, cracking 18 hits on their way to a 14-6 win over Swarthmore in Centennial baseball action.
The Garnet fall to 7-9 overall and 0-4 in the Centennial while the Bears improve to 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Conference.
Swarthmore freshman Andy Eisenlohr (Lower Merion, Pa. / Lower Merion) went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored while sophomore shortstop Thomas Nakamura (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) added a 2-for-5 effort with two RBIs.
Swarthmore battled back from an early 9-0 deficit, plating two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Eisenlohr stroked a two-out single down the leftfield line in the fourth and moved up on a wild pitch. Nakamura drilled an RBI single to left, scoring Eisenlohr with the first Garnet run of the day. Nakamura also made his way to second on a wild pitch and came into score on a single to center by Swarthmore junior infielder Kevin Kooi (Lafayette, Calif. / Preparatory School).
Kooi is second on the team with 13 RBIs in 2008, while hitting .476 (10 for 21) with runners in scoring position.
The home team kept coming at the Bears in the fifth. Garnet freshman outfielder Ben Schneiderman (Easton, Pa. / Easton) got plunked leading off the inning and catcher Wiley Archibald ‘10 (Berkeley, Calif. / College Prep School) followed with a walk. Both runners executed a delayed steal and Schneiderman came home on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Matt Corso ‘10 (Paramus, N.J. / Paramus). Timely hitting continued for Swarthmore as junior Conor Casey drew a two-out base on balls and Eisenlohr drilled a double to deep right field, driving in Archibald and Casey. Nakamura followed another two-out hit, singling to center, driving in Eisenlohr.
Archibald concluded the day with two hits, improving his average to an even .400 (14 for 35) on the season.
Swarthmore sophomore Jimmy Gill (Lewes, Del. / Cape Henelopen) took the loss, falling to 1-2 on the season.
Swarthmore will complete the season series with Ursinus this Friday, April 4 with a 3:30 p.m. contest in Collegeville, Pa. The Garnet return to Clothier Fields this Saturday, April 5 for a 12:30 p.m. Centennial twin bill against Franklin & Marshall. Swarthmore will hold the 2nd annual Ponytail Day, with a special twist for 2008.