Swat Splits On Senior Day
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The Swarthmore baseball team split a pair of Centennial games with Dickinson Saturday afternoon, falling 4-3 in the first before earning a 14-8 victory on Senior Day at Clothier Fields.
With the split, Dickinson finished the double header with a 11-22 overall and 6-12 CC record while Swarthmore stands at 12-23 and 4-14 CC.
Swarthmore was led by sophomore centerfielder Ben Schneiderman (Easton, Pa. / Easton) who went 5-for-8 at the plate, had seven put outs in the field and tallied three RBIs.
The first game saw Swarthmore posted its first runs in the bottom of the third. Schneiderman tallied his 35th hit of the season, sending a single to right field. He advanced to second off a wild pitch and was then brought home on a single from freshman Anthony Montalbano (Edison, N.J. / John P. Stevens).
The fifth inning was another successful one for the Garnet as they increased their lead to 3-0. Montalbano had his third consecutive hit to bring in Miles Santo '12 (Middletown, N.J. / Middletown South).
In the top of the sixth, the Red Devils took the lead, scoring four runs off of three hits eventually holding on for the victory.
Swarthmore sophomore Neil Mejia (Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park & River Forest) pitched all seven innings for the Garnet, striking out three batters while taking the loss (3-5).
Between games the four Swarthmore seniors: catcher Andy Bender (Baltimore, Md. / Beth T. Elioh Community School), utility man Conor Casey (San Francisco, Calif. / Lowell), second baseman Kevin Kooi (Oakland, Calif. / The College Preparatory School) and pitcher Dylan Smith (Patchogue, N.Y. / Patchogue-Medford) were honored in the annual Senior Day celebration.
The second game started with a three-up, three down defensive half inning for the Garnet. Montalbano extended his hitting streak with a single up the middle and then was sent to third as freshman Mike Waterhouse (Weston, Conn. / Weston) reached first base on an error by the Red Devils. Swarthmore scored as junior Wiley Archibald (Berkeley, Calif. / The College Preparatory School) flied out to the left fielder but drove Montablano across the plate for his 15th RBI of the season.
The Red Devils went ahead, scoring two runs in the top of the fourth following two scoreless innings.
The Swarthmore defense was on top of their game in the fifth, freshman Spencer Ross (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) made the first out backing out to the outfield catching a pop-up. Freshman pitcher Kyle Crawford (Mississuga, ON, Canada / Cawthra Park School) then struck out the Red Devils designated hitter. To end the inning, Crawford picked-off left fielder Mike Schuster on first.
Swarthmore put up two runs in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead one run. Scheiderman singled to left field and was brought home off a Waterhouse double. Archibald singled to right field to score Waterhouse. The inning ended in a close caught stealing situation.
In the seventh, the first batter grounded out to second baseman Kevin Kooi ’09 (Lafayette, Calif. / College Preparatory School) who executed a somersault move to make the out at first. The Garnet inning finished as Kooi deflty turned a 5-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Garnet batted around, bringing 14 hitters to the plate. They scored nine runs to push the score to 14-2. After a change of pitchers two Garnet runners scored off an error by the Red Devil catcher. Following a fielder’s choice to put Kooi on first base, he was brought home off a Montablano double through the left side. Two Garnet batters were walked before junior Jimmy Gill (Lewes, Del. / Cape Henlopen) had a sacrifice fly to bring home the fourth run of the inning. After three more runs, the Garnet stayed alive as the Red Devil second baseman dropped a Casey grounder than sent home senior Bender. Schneiderman smacked his sixth double of the season and scored both Cameron and Ross. The inning ended with a ground out to the second baseman.
The Red Devils scored six runs in the top of the ninth but their effort was not enough for a rally win.
Crawford (3-5) (pictured above) started on the mound for the Garnet and struck out seven batters. He earned the win after tossing eight innings.
Swarthmore will host Arcadia University in the final game of the season tomorrow, Sunday, April 26. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Click here for GAME 1 BOX SCORE.
Click here for GAME 2 BOX SCORE.