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BY JARED NOLAN

In print | Published April 16, 2009

Swarthmore baseball clung to an early lead last Thursday to eke out its first Centennial Conference win of the season.

The Garnet (9-18, 1-9 CC) scored six runs through the first three innings against Washington (9-12, 3-6 CC), but the Shoremen made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning, rallying for four runs to close the deficit to one run. Swarthmore managed to strike out the last batter, however, and won the game 9-8.

“We played a complete game from the first pitch to the last,” head coach Stan Exeter said, explaining the key to the win.

Indeed, Garnet batters pounced on the opposing pitchers early. Mike Waterhouse ’12 led off the game with a walk and advanced to second when Wiley Archibald ’10 was hit by a pitch. A single through the right side of the infield hit by Matt Lamb ’12 scored Waterhouse.

Run production continued in the second inning when Archibald knocked his first collegiate home run over the wall with Miles Santo ’12 and Waterhouse on base.

The three-run jack put Swarthmore ahead 4-0, and the Garnet added to the lead in the third when Conor Casey ’09 singled to right field, scoring Ben Schneiderman ’11.

In the next at-bat, Casey crossed the plate after the Washington leftfielder misfielded a single hit by Santo.

Innings three-through-six belonged to Washington, however, as the Shoremen put four runs on the board, while allowing none.

Through the first three innings, Garnet starter Kyle Crawford ’12 held the Shoremen to one hit, but in the fourth, a solo home run jumpstarted Washington’s bats.

In the next inning, with two runs already scored, Crawford was in a jam: a hit batsman left the bases loaded with only one out. The next batter hit a ground ball right back to him, however, and he turned the exceedingly rare one-two-three double play (pitcher to catcher to first baseman) to end the inning.
After the turbulent inning, Exeter relieved Crawford, who struck out four batters while only allowing three runs in five innings.

The Shoremen scored another run in the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the Garnet broke it open again in the eighth with three runs.

Taking a five-run lead into the ninth, Swarthmore seemed ready to coast to its first conference win, but Washington did not want to lose to the Garnet at home for the first time since 2004.

With two runs already scored and two men on base, Exeter called on Neil Mejia ’11 for the last out. Washington’s next batter hit a double that struck the left field wall about halfway up, driving home the two on base to bring the score to 9-8. Mejia regrouped, however, and recorded the save when he struck out the next batter to end the game.

“We’ve known we could beat a lot of teams and we had a greater confidence going into this game in particular,” Casey said. “We had good things going for us that game and we got key contributions from a lot of different people.”

Rain postponed Saturday’s doubleheader, so the Garnet’s had some time off before playing at Haverford (15-10-1, 9-3 CC) on Tuesday.

Swarthmore scored four runs in the top of the first inning including a Spencer Ross ’12 three-run homer, but the Fords’ bats were even hotter.

After responding with five of their own runs in the bottom of the first, the Fords went on to score 28 in the game, one shy of the team record. The final score was 28-7.

Exeter explained the source of Haverford’s hitting success. “We weren’t around the strike zone consistently enough,” he said. “It only takes one swing to score multiple runs combined with walks.”
On the day, the Fords had six of those big swings — Garnet pitchers allowed six home runs. “After they get a big lead in the game, it’s much easier to swing,” Exeter added.

Multiple rainouts have left the Garnet with an increasingly busy schedule ahead. Starting today, the team has a four-day stretch that will see them play six games, including back-to-back doubleheaders over the weekend.

The Garnet will next play on Clothier Field against Ursinus on Friday at 3:30 p.m.

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