Athletics News

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior Michael Cullinan finished third with an 80 as Swarthmore finished second in a quad match at Torresdale-Frankford Country Club on Friday afternoon.

Host Holy Family led the way with a team score of 329, followed by the Garnet (342), University of the Sciences (415), and Arcadia (419).

The Swarthmore team score comprised of freshman Michael Bernasek (81 - fourth overall), Ed Goldstein '07 (86), freshman David Lau (87), and junior Eric Zwick (88). Junior Zach Moody also competed for Swarthmore, carding a 94. Cullinan competed as an individual hitting for a ten-over par 80.

The Garnet tee it up on Monday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at St. David's Country Club against host Eastern College.

GAME BOX SCORE

CHESTERTOWN, Md. — Senior captain Heidi Fieselmann '06 scored the game-winning goal with forty-six seconds left to complete a 8-7 come-from-behind Swarthmore victory at Washington (Md.) in Centennial Conference action on Thursday evening.

The Garnet (10-2 overall, 2-2 CC) collected double digits wins for the ninth time time in school history. Swarthmore head coach Karen Borbee (124-83, .599 winning percentage) has been at the helm for eight of those seasons.

Fieselmann, a midfielder, opened the scoring one minute in, taking a pass from classmate, and fellow captain Niamh Shortt, to score her 15th goal of the season.

The Shorewomen (6-7 overall, 1-4 CC) opened up a 4-1 lead over the next 14 minutes as freshman attack Sally Mancini scored three consecutive goals and junior attack Caitlin Beane put in another at 15:11.

Borbee brought freshman midfielder Anna de Regt off the bench, looking for any answer to the Washington attack. De Regt responded with two quick goals to cut the Shorewomen lead to 4-3 at halftime.

De Regt tied the game at 4-4 at 37:45 with her 18th goal of the season.

Beane scored two quick goals to give Washington a 6-4 advantage at 45:57. Shortt answered for Swarthmore with her 21st goal of the season a minute later. Shorewomen junior midfielder Melanie Ruppert tallied the final Washington goal at 49:28 for a strong 7-5 lead.

Swarthmore had been in this position before, falling behind McDaniel 15-10 on March 25 only to roll out six straight goals for the 16-15 Centennial win.

The Garnet comeback on this evening began with junior midfielder Katie Crawford's 21st goal of the season at 52:00. Classmate Lindsay Roth matched Crawford forty-four seconds later with her 21st goal to tie the game at 7-7.

The teams went back and forth, trading offensive chances, seemingly headed toward overtime. Fieselmann put those thoughts to bed with her 16th goal (second game-winner) of the season.

Garnet goalie Susannah Blair made five saves while Washington's Mollie Binotto collected nine stops.

Swarthmore out-shot the Shorewomen 28-21 and controlled 12 draws compared to five for Washington.

Sophomore midfielder Megan Sanborn led the team with four draw controls while freshman Kelsey Hatzell and de Regt controlled three apiece.

Swarthmore returns to Clothier Field after three games on the road, hosting 13th-ranked Dickinson, a Centennial rival, on Saturday, April 8 at 2:30 p.m.

GAME BOX SCORE

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The Ursinus Bears scored ten goals in the second half, running away with a 13-3 Centennial victory over Swarthmore on a chilly Wednesday evening. Ursinus improves to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the CC while the Garnet dip to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the Centennial.

Junior captain Ryan McKenna scored a goal and added an assist while fellow captain Jay Charles '07 and freshman attack Stelios Wilson collected scores for Swarthmore.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead with goals by Jason Peterson and Mike Stein in the first period. Ursinus opened up a 3-0 advantage at 13:19 in the second period with an unassisted score by Dave Mangin.

The Garnet fought back later in the second period when Charles finished off a pass from sophomore attack Alex Hahn at 8:25. It is the team-leading 10th goal of the season for Charles and sixth assist (also a team-high) of 2006 for Hahn. McKenna cut the deficit to 3-2 at 3:54 with an unassisted goal, his second of the season.

It was all Ursinus in the third period as the Bears scored four unanswered goals to take a 9-2 lead into the final period.

Swarthmore scored first in the fourth period, taking a pass from McKenna and depositing the ball past Bears goalie Matt Orlando at 12:19.

This was the Bears night though, sending Ursinus to its first Centennial win of the season with six goals in the fourth period.

Swarthmore out-shot Ursinus 33-29 yet Orlando set up a wall in front of the net, making 16 saves for the Bears.

Charles was 8-of-11 in the face off circle as the Garnet held won 12-of-20 as a team. Charles has now won over half (.575, 42-for-73) of his faceoffs in 2006, ranking sixth in the Centennial.

Mangin and Anthony Tori led the Bears with three goals apiece.

Swarthmore returns to Clothier Field on Wednesday evening for a non-conference game with Drew. The first face-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

Complete Results

WALLINGFORD, Pa. -- Freshman David Lau was low-man for the Garnet on a wet and wooly Wednesday afternoon at the Springhaven CLub golf course, recording an 83 as Swarthmore competed with Widener University and Neumann College in a non-conference tri-match.

Neumann won the match with a team score of 325, out-distancing the Pioneers (349) and the Garnet (351).

The Knights' Joe Coffey led the way with a two-over par 74 while teammate Shane Howey was second with a score of 79.

Lau, who finished fifth in the individual standings, was joined by teammate Michael Cullinan '06 (87) in the top ten. Michael Bernasek '09 (88), Darren Johnson '08 (93), and Michael Johns '08 (106) closed out the scoring for Swarthmore

The Garnet will tee it up at 1:00 p.m. this Friday in a match with Holy Family at Torresdale-Frankford Country Club.

GAME ONE BOX

GAME TWO BOX

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Senior catcher Christina Procacci delivered a game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the fifth inning to send the Garnet (14-9, 1-1 CC) to a 2-1 victory over Ursinus in the first game of a Centennial doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.

Ursinus (13-5, 2-2 CC), the 2005 Centennial Conference champion, held off Swarthmore 8-6 in game two behind a two-hit, three-RBI performance from centerfielder Katie Gallagher.

The 14 victories is the most by a Swarthmore team since 1988 when the team was 16-6

An exciting pitcher's duel ensued in the first game, pitting Swarthmore freshman sensation Alexandra Zelaski versus 2005 Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Year Mallory Greene.

The Bears drew first blood as 2005 All-Centennial performer Mary Reid drove a Zelaski offering in the top of the fourth out over the fence for a 1-0 Ursinus lead. It is the second home run of the season for Reid and the fourth of her career.

The Ursinus run ended Zelaski's 18-inning scoreless streak, dating back to .

Greene (4-5) limited the Garnet to a pair of hits through the first four frames. Swarthmore got a rally cooking in the bottom of the fifth started when junior first baseman Kelly Siano drew a full-count walk. Freshman centerfielder Lauren Walker followed with a double in the gap to put runners on second and third with no outs. Greene retired Melissa LaVan '07 on a liner to third and got Kristin Caspar '09 to pop out to short. Procacci came to the plate with 24 walks on the season, but Greene had issued only seven free passes in over 60 innings. Procacci saw no need to look for a base on balls and lined a 1-0 pitch into the outfield to drive home Siano and Walker to give the Garnet a 3-2 lead.

Zelaski retired the Bears in order in the sixth before Reid led off the seventh with a double. Ursinus got the runner to third with two outs, but Zelaski enduced Elizabeth Carino into a ground out to give Swarthmore its 14th victory of the season.

Procacci had two of the four Garnet hits, driving in two RBIs to push her career-high total to 17 on the season.

Zelaski (7-2) won her sixth straight decision, allowing only four hits over seven innings while striking out three.

Greene suffered the loss, allowing two runs in six innings, striking out five. Reid was 2-for-2 for the Bears, with one run and an RBI.

The second game was a back-and-forth battle that wasn't settled until the final out. Ursinus jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning yet the Garnet answered back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the second. Freshman Christine Sendelsky and sophomore Katie Gold led of the Swarthmore second with consecutive singles. After Siano was fanned by Bears' pitcher Lindsay Schmidt, Walker moved up the runners with a ground out to first base. LaVan came through with a two-run single to tie the game and gave the Garnet the lead by scoring as Caspar followed with a single.

Ursinus came back with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Swarthmore made the score 7-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Sendelsky singled, moved to second on an error by the Bears' leftfielder, and came around to score on a base hit by Gold.

Ursinus increased the lead to 8-4 with run in the top of the sixth.

The Garnet made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh, as Sendelsky delivered an RBI single and Swarthmore loaded the bases with no one out. Ursinus brought Greene into the game in relief of Schmidt, and the Garnet put one more run across before Greene shut the door by striking out Walker and getting LaVan to ground out.

Sendelsky and Gold both were 4-for-4 in game two; Sendlesky scored three times and drove in a run while Gold scored once and tallied an RBI. LaVan was 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.

Garnet junior Marianne Klingaman (3-3) was tagged with the loss, pitching 4.1 innings allowing seven runs (only one earned) with a pair of strikeouts.

Schmidt (7-0) pitched six innings for the win, striking out three batters while walking two. Greene pitched the final inning for her first save of the season.

The Garnet travel to Carlisle, Pa. on Saturday afternoon for their next game. Swarthmore will take on Centennial foe Dickinson at 1:00 p.m. on April 8.

BOX SCORE

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Ursinus pounded out 18 hits to defeat homestanding Swarthmore 12-1 in Centennial Conference action on a blustery Tuesday afternoon. The Bears improve to 7-11 overall and 2-3 in the CC while the Garnet dip to 5-11 overall and 0-5 in the CC.

Freshman shortstop Conor Casey led Swarthmore with a 2-for-5 outing, despite having to wear a protective facemask after taking a bad-hop ground ball in the face during warm-ups.

In the first inning, the Bears scored their first run when freshman David Randolph doubled and then scored on senior Bret Jenkins' two-bagger to left field.

Ursinus exploded for seven hits in the top of the third off Swarthmore starter Sean Varsolona '09, scoring six times to open a 7-0 lead. Randolph smacked a one-out single to left, scoring Brendan Evans and Stephen Benavage. Later in the inning, senior Ben Fisher cracked a two-out bases-loaded double to left and catcher Jon Sheppard followed with a two-run single to centerfield.

Varsolona blanked the Bears through the next three innings, before Ursinus pinch hitter Rory Graver hit his first collegiate home run over the left field fence to put the Bears ahead 8-0.

Swarthmore got on the board in the bottom of the eight as freshman infielder Kevin Kooi drew a bases-loaded walk off Ursinus reliever Mike Stangroom.

The Bears tacked on four more in the top of the ninth for the final margin.

Jenkins led Ursinus with three hits and an RBI while Randolph added a 2-for-4 performance with two runs and two RBIs.

Bears' southpaw Clay Miller (1-2) pitched six shut-out innings while striking out six batters to earn his first win of the season.

Varsolona (2-3) picked up the loss, tossing eight innings, striking out five batters.

Swarthmore completes the back end of a Centennial home-and-home with Ursinus on Friday, April 7, traveling to Collegeville, Pa. for a 3:30 p.m. game.

4/3: Garnet Roll To Win

SPRINGFIELD, Pa. -- Junior Eric Zwick carded a three-over 74 as Swarthmore rolled to victory over Haverford and the Unversity of the Sciences at Rolling Green Gold Club on a wet Monday afternoon.

Zwick was joined on the leaderboard by classmate Ed Goldstein, who posted an 81, and freshman David Lau, who tallied an 83. Michael Bernasek '09 contributed an 86 to complete the Garnet scoring.

Swarthmore totaled a 324 as a team to win the team match.

The Garnet head to The Springhaven Club on Wednesday, April 5 to take on Widener University at 1:00 p.m.

Team Scores

Swarthmore -- 324
Haverford -- 383
Univ. of the Sciences -- 415

4/3: Zelaski Named Centennial and ECAC South Pitcher of the Week

Swarthmore, PA— Swarthmore College right-hander Alexandra Zelaski (Middleburg Heights, OH - Midpark) has been named the Centennial Conference Pitcher of the Week and ECAC South Region Co-Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 3.

While pitching the Garnet to three wins during the week, Zelaski allowed no runs and only four hits over 14.0 innings of work. The freshman one-hit Widener on March 28, striking out six batters in a 5-0 Garnet victory, and then struck out 11, matching her career high, in a two-hit shutout in Swarthmore's 13-0 win over Philadelphia Biblical March 30.  She capped the week with two scoreless frames to clinch a 4-2 Garnet victory at Alvernia on April 1.

Following a 3-2 Swarthmore win over Ursinus on April 4, Zelaski (7-2) has a 1.76 ERA (fourth in the Centennial), a team-high 59 strikeouts (also fourth in the CC), and 3.93 K/BB ratio.

Zelaski joins classmate Christine Sendelsky in earning Centennial and ECAC honors in 2006; Sendelsky received Centennial Hitter of the Week honors on March 20 and then was Co-Hitter of the Week for the Centennial and ECAC on March 27.

By splitting a doubleheader with Ursinus on April 4, Swarthmore improves to 14-9, with the program's largest win total since 1988.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The Swarthmore men's tennis team split a pair of matches this weekend on the campus of the University of Mary Washington. The Garnet defeated Carnegie Mellon 5-2 on Saturday afternoon and then fell to seventh-ranked Mary Washington 6-1 on Sunday morning.

After losing the doubles' point to CMU on Saturday, the Garnet (3-9) rallied to win six of the seven singles' matches to defeat the Tartans, ranked fifth in the Atlantic South region.

Swarthmore, currently listed fourth in the Atlantic South region, got a solid win at No.1 by senior Zac Rodd. Rodd, ranked fifth in the region, rallied back down a set to defeat CMU's Yiran Liu 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Junior Jon Reiss, ranked eighth in the region, overcame Andrew Clearfield (20th in the region) to win 7-5, 7-6.

Senior Brian Park easily defeated Stephen Kuhn 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles while sophomore Jon Lo rolled at No. 4 singles, downing Carl Yang 6-2, 6-1. Sam Sidhu '07 also cruised, getting past Dan Munoz at No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-1.

The Garnet ran into a national-title contender on Sunday in the Eagles of Mary Washington. Swarthmore's lone point came at No. 2 singles, where Reiss defeated Jon Clair 5-7, 6-4, 10-4.

Reiss has won six straight matches and has fallen twice in 2006, both to Division I opponents.

The Garnet will take on 25th-ranked College of New Jersey in their next match, scheduled for Sunday, April 9 at 1:30 p.m.

Game One Boxscore

Game Two Boxscore

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Behind solid pitching from starter Ryan Kulhman in game one and reliever Patrick Steffee in game two, the 16th-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays swept Swarthmore, 9-0 and 15-4, in Centennial Conference action on a breezy Saturday afternoon on Clothier Fields.

Third baseman Patrick Christmas '08 led the Garnet offense with a total of four hits.

Righthander Alex Ryan-Bond '07 got the game one start for the Garnet and retired the first two men he faced before hitting catcher Rob Sanzillo. Sanzillo tried to get into scoring position, but was thrown out by Swarthmore catcher Andy Bender '08. Sanzillo is Bender's third base-running victim of the season.

The Blue Jays got on the board in top of the second inning. With the bases loaded and none out, Ryan-Bond coaxed Todd Emr to pop the ball into short left field and shortstop Conor Casey '09 backed up and made a twisting catch. As Casey threw home, Gary Rosenberg tagged and scored. Rob Pietroforte tried to advance to third, but Bender gunned it to Christmas, who lay the tag down just in time for the out. Ryan-Bond then got Tim Sliker to fly out to end the threat.

Hopkins struck for another run in the top of the fourth when Pietroforte tripled and Corey Gleason singled him in to make the score 2-0.

Meanwhile, Kuhlman was stifling the Garnet bats; he held Swarthmore to just one hit over the first four innings.

The rains came at 12:21, driving the Garnet to the dugout as they warmed up for the top of the fifth frame. It would be a short-lived downpour, though, and 28 minutes later, Ryan-Bond was back on the hill. The visitors welcomed back the righthander with three more runs in the fifth, extending the lead to 5-0.

Swarthmore designated hitter Travis Allen '08 doubled to deep left center with one out in the fifth, but was cut down trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Johns Hopkins added a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Ryan-Bond (1-4) went the distance for Swarthmore, allowing all nine runs (eight earned) on 14 hits. He walked two and struck out one in his third complete game of the season. Kuhlman (2-0) picked up his first shutout of the season for the Blue Jays, allowing just three hits and striking out nine.

Garnet first baseman Sam Faeder '07 went hitless for the first time in 2006, ending his season-long hit streak at an impressive 13 games.

In game two, Hopkins scored a pair in the top of the first, but Swarthmore's bats woke up, scoring two runs for the home team in the bottom of the first. Christmas ripped a double, scoring captain Scott Young '06, for his 15th RBI of the season, matching his team-leading total from 2005. Later in the inning, Bender singled Christmas for his career-best 12th RBI of the season.

JHU's Todd Emr homered to left-center in the top of the second to give the lead back to the Blue Jays. It was the second home run hit this season over the new fences at Clothier Fields.

The Garnet scored twice more in the second frame to take their first lead at 4-3. Faeder hit the ball over the head of left fielder Jon Solomon for a triple, scoring Grant Yoshitsu '09, and Faeder later scored on a Christmas single. Unfortunately, the Blue Jay bats continued to sizzle, as the visitors scored at least once in each of the first five innings and the visitors built a 9-4 lead behind fine relief work from right-hander Steffee, who picked up the win after pitching 5.0 scoreless innings.

The Blue Jays (15-3-2, 3-0-1 CC) continued to flex their power muscles late in the game, as Mike Pietroforte and pinch hitter Nick Venezia each went deep off Swarthmore freshman hurler Yoi Tibbets '09.

Southpaw Andrew Bail came in for the bottom of the eighth and closed the door for the visitors, striking out the Swarthmore side in the final frame.

Swarthmore starter Justin Chen '08 (1-3) went seven innings, allowing 10 runs (nine earned) on 11 hits to take the loss. He walked four and struck out four. Tibbets allowed five runs in two innings of work.

Christmas led the offense with three hits in five at bats, extending his hit streak to nine games and raising his season average to .350. Faeder rebounded in the second game with a pair of knocks, including his second triple of 2006, in five trips to the plate.

The Garnet (5-10, 0-4 CC) return to action on Tuesday vs. Centennial Conference counterpart Ursinus at 3:30 p.m right here on Clothier Fields.