Comeback Kids Sweep Wildcats
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore baseball twice rallied on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from visiting SUNY-IT, 4-3 and 8-5, at Clothier Fields. Garnet sophomore Andy Eisenlohr had a triple and drove in four runs while classmate Neil Mejia collected a save and a win on the mound.
The two teams scheduled the twinbill to be played in Georgetown, Delaware but heavy rains forced a change in venue to Swarthmore's campus. With the two wins, Swarthmore improves to 6-5 overall while the Tigers, from Utica, N.Y., fell to 3-7 overall.
In the first game, SUNY-IT was the first to get on the board in the top of the second but Swarthmore was quick to tie it up in the bottom of the inning. The Wildcats went ahead with two runs in the fourth to push the score to 3-1 after Lance Bull doubled to left field that sent Patrick Baker crossing the plate. Later in the inning, Bull scored off a Garnet error but the hometeam escaped a jam with a double play.
The talented Garnet freshman got the comeback started in the bottom of the six, as catcher Miles Santo ’12 (Middletown, N.J. / Middletown South) (pictured above) hit a one-out single to leftfield. Sophomore James Bernard (Philadelphia, Pa. / Friends Select) pushed a perfect bunt to right side and two runners scored after Tigers throwing error. Third baseman Conor Casey ’09 (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) picked-up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center, sending second baseman Kevin Kooi ’09 (Lafayette, Calif. / College Preparatory School) across the plate. The inning finished with the Garnet putting up three runs off of two hits and assuming the 4-3 lead.
Mejia (Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park River Forest) entered the game throwing heat in the final 
inning, striking out all three batters to earn his first career save. Sophomore Andy Allen (Machester, Maine / St. Dominic) (right) started on the mound for Swarthmore, striking out three Wildcats to collect the win.
The Garnet threw on their rally caps again for the second game as the Wildcats jumped out ahead in the second inning with four runs scored. Justin Marsden and Bull had back-to-back singles to the outfield before Anthony Surber sent Marsden home off a single to left field. Vinny Brescia hit a line drive down the left field line for two RBIs before Kevin Burr scored off a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the fourth, Eisenlohr (Lower Merion, Pa. / Lower Merion) drove in two runs with a deep triple down the left field line and then scored himself on a Wildcat throwing error, bringing the Garnet within one run, 4-3.
Bull, who went 2-for-3 on the afternoon drove in Chris Fratini for his second RBI of the afternoon at the top of the fifth making the score 5-3 in favor of the Wildcats.
The Garnet tied the game at five-all off a single from Eisenlohr (left) that sent both sophomore Ben Schneiderman (Easton, Pa. / Easton) and freshman Anthony Montalbano (Edison, N.J. / John P. Stevens) home in the bottom of the fifth.
Swarthmore continued to swing the bat well in the sixth getting a single to center from Montalbano to load the bases. Santo pinch-hit with a new Tiger pitcher on the hill, doubling to center for three RBIs to push Swarthmore ahead 8-5.
Mejia (2-0) (left) closed the game again, allowing no runs or hits while striking out three batters for the his second win of the season.
The Garnet will take the day off on Monday before traveling to Neumann on Tuesday, March 17th for a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.