Montalbano, Garnet Dodge Bullets
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Garnet freshman slugger Anthony Montalbano had three extra-base hits and drove in four runs as Swarthmore baseball ended a 10-game losing skid to Gettysburg on an overcast Sunday afternoon at Clothier Fields.
The two teams were making up a Centennial twin bill that had been rained out on April 11th. Swarthmore (11-22, 3-13 CC) won the opener 4-2, getting their first win over the Bullets (14-19, 7-9 CC) since 2002. The Garnet cruised to 7-2 victory in the second game of the day, earning their first sweep of a Conference doubleheader since April 9, 2005.
Gettysburg had trouble with the gloves early on, committing three errors in the first two innings. Swarthmore wasted little time taking advantage of the extra outs, building a 4-1 lead after Montalbano’s RBI double in the second and an RBI triple to the right-field wall in the fourth.
The Bullets staged a last-ditch rally in the top of the seventh, as pinch hitter Pat Hanley drilled a two-out single to center to drive home Kevin Langhauser. Garnet starter Neil Mejia (Oak River Park, Ill. / Oak Park & River Forest) closed out the game by inducing a fly ball to left to snap a five-game Centennial losing streak.
Mejia (3-4) went the distance for the Garnet, tossing all 7.0 innings with seven hits allowed and four strikeouts. Mejia now has seven career wins in 17 starts, leading the team in earned-run average (3.88) this season.
Montalbano (right) went 2-for-4 in the first game, driving in a pair of Swarthmore runs while senior utility man Conor Casey (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell) added two hits.
Gettysburg starter Michael Sweeney (1-4) suffered the loss, pitching all 6.0 innings for the Bullets, allowing the four runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
Langhauser accounted for two hits while scoring one of the Gettysburg runs.
Montalbano was at the center of an early offensive explosion in game two, walking to lead off the bottom of the first. He immediately stole second and came flying home on a sacrifice fly by classmate Mike Waterhouse (Weston, Conn. / Weston). The Garnet added a second run later in the inning when junior right fielder Jimmy Gill (Lewes, Del. / Cape Henlopen) plated junior Wiley Archibald (Berekely, Calif. / College Preparatory School) with an RBI ground out to the Gettysburg second baseman.
The second inning saw Swarthmore open up a 6-0 lead. Freshman designated hitter Miles Santo (Middletown, N.J. / Middletown South) drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After a fly out, Garnet captain Kevin Kooi ’09 (Oakland, Calif. / The Preparatory School) reached on a bunt single, with Santo moving up to third. Sophomore centerfielder Ben Schneiderman (Easton, Pa. / Easton) drove in Santo with a sacrifice fly to left. Montalbano followed with another deep drive to vast right-center field, scoring Kooi before ending up on third with his third triple of the season.
More wild play by Gettysburg gave the Garnet two more runs in the seventh, as both Montalbano and Archibald scored on the same wild pitch, giving the home team the 6-0 lead.
Swarthmore tacked on another run in the fourth inning, generated by the speed of Kooi (left). The senior reached on an infield single and after three pickoff attempts, swiped second base. Kooi has not been caught in his last 21 steal attempts, amassing 24 stolen bases in his career (24-for-25; he was last nabbed during his freshman year against Widener).
As the Garnet bats generated noise in the Family Weekend crowd at Clothier Fields, Swarthmore starting pitcher Zach Wiener (Baltimore, Md. / McDonogh School) was silencing the Gettysburg bats. Weiner allowed just three hits over the first five innings, benefiting from some sparkling Garnet defense—Swarthmore turned four double plays on the day, including two in the second affair.
Gettysburg finally cracked Weiner in the seventh, stringing a trio of base hits together to ruin the shutout. Bullets shortstop Corey Beddick roped a two-out single to center to drive home outfielder Drew Roy, cutting the Swarthmore lead to 7-1.
The Bullets tacked on a run in the eight after a double by Mike Backus and a RBI single by Mike Karis but Swarthmore reliever Zach Sinemus ’10 (Short Hills, N.J. / Millburn) got out of the inning without further damage.
Swarthmore senior submariner Dylan Smith (Patchogue, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford) overcame a Garnet error to shut down the Bullets in the ninth.
Weiner (1-1) (above) earned his first collegiate victory, allowing just one run in 7.0 innings while fanning three batters. Bullets’ starter Matt Zwaan (0-1) took the loss after allowing six runs, all earned, in two innings.
Kooi posted a 2-for-4 afternoon, scoring two runs, while Montalbano accounted for two RBIs and scored twice with a walk and a triple.
Swarthmore hits the road for a pair of mid-week non-conference games, traveling to Philadelphia Biblical on Tuesday before making an appearance at Campbell’s Field in Camden, New Jersey on Wednesday evening. The Garnet take on Rutgers-Camden at 7:00 p.m. at the picturesque minor league ballpark tucked up against the Benjamin Franklin Bridge that links Pennsylvania and New Jeresey.