Pride Hold Off Garnet
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Widener out-lasted Swarthmore for a 14-10 win Monday afternoon at Clothier Fields in non-conference baseball action.
Widener (11-8-1) got on the board in their first at-bat, scoring two runs off two hits.
Swarthmore (8-11) responded by batting around in the bottom of the first, scoring six runs to take the lead. The inning was started with a double down the left field line by center fielder Ben Schneiderman ’11 (Easton, Pa. / Easton) and he was advanced to third off a single from freshman Mike Waterhouse (Weston, Conn. / Weston). With that hit Waterhouse extended his six game-hitting streak.
Freshman Anthony Montalbano (Edison, N.J. / John P. Stevens) smashed a triple to center field to bring two runners home, tying the game at 2-2. Swarthmore went ahead by two runs when senior infielder Connor Casey (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) cracked a double out to center field. Junior right fielder Jimmy Gill (Lewes, Del. / Cape Henlopen) [pictured above], who went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, sent his first collegiate home run flying over the center field wall to hand the Garnet a 6-2 advantage.
Widener came within one, 6-5, in the top of the second, scoring three times. The Pride defense kept Swarthmore off the board in the bottom of the second. With a combined seven runs in the third and fourth innings, the Pride took a 12-6 lead.
Swarthmore picked-up two runs in the fifth that started with back-to-back singles from Casey and Gill. The two both scored off passed balls, making the score 12-8 in favor of the Pride.
McHale finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs and sent a homer over the left field wall, pushing the score to 13-8 in the top of the sixth.
Although the Garnet defense stopped the Pride from scoring any runs in the final two innings it was not enough for a come back. In their final at bats, Swarthmore scored off a sacrifice fly from Gill to push Montalbano across the plate.
Widener freshman Salvatore Spera (1-1) pitched five innings and struck out six batters for the win while Swarthmore freshman Sam Menzin (Westbury, N.Y. / Friends Academy) (0-2) took the loss.
Swarthmore will rest up tonight before hitting the field again tomorrow to face Washington College. The Centennial Conference match-up is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
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