Fords Rally Past Garnet Baseball in Extras, 7-6 (11)
HAVERFORD, Pa. - With chances to put the game away in the ninth and 11th innings, the Swarthmore College baseball team (12-8, 3-3) could not slam the door shut on homestanding Haverford (19-4, 4-2), as the Fords scored a run in the bottom of ninth to force extra innings and two runs in the bottom of the 11th to rally past the Garnet by a score of 7-6 on Sunday afternoon.
Junior Anthony Montalbano paced the Garnet offense with two hits, including a seventh-inning solo home run that put the Garnet ahead 5-4. Senior Ben Schneiderman, junior Spencer Ross, and sophomore Rory McTear also recorded two hits apiece. Senior James Beall came through with a pinch-hit go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 11th inning while freshman Niko Burnett also added an RBI single.
A low-scoring 1-1 game through five innings, the Garnet bats finally awoke from their weekend slumber in the top of sixth. A pair of RBI singles from Burnett and Ross combined with two Haverford errors brought three Garnet runners across the plate, giving Swat a 4-1 lead.
The Fords struck right back in the bottom sixth, as Matt Liscovitz blasted a three-run home run with two outs off Garnet starter Kyle Crawford to tie the game 4-4.
Following Montalbano's solo home run in the seventh, Swat had a chance to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. But after relief pitcher Zach Weiner got the first two outs with ease, the Fords strung together three consecutive singles to bring home the tying run and force extra innings.
Tied 5-5 in the 11th, an unlikely hero came through in the clutch to give Swat the lead. After Ross was thrown out at home for the first out of the inning following a Schneiderman single, Beall - who had just four at-bats for the season coming into the game - came to the plate with runners on the corners and drilled a single up the middle, scoring sophomore Tim Kwilos to give Swat a 6-5 lead.
With a second chance to seal the win, Swarthmore came up empty once again. Sophomore Ramsey Walker (2-1), pitching for the third time in two days, walked his first batter and proceeded to surrender a double to Haverford's Jake Chaplin to plate one run and tie the game 6-6. Following a single and walk from Haverford batters in the next two at-bats, the bases were loaded with no one out. Despite recording a force out at home to get one down, a passed ball would eventually doom the Garnet, allowing Haverford's Luis DeRosa to score from third and win the game for the Fords
Crawford pitched eight solid innings as the Garnet's starter, surrendering four earned runs while striking out six.
For Haverford, Patrick Falkoff (2-0) picked up the win in relief. Colin Sarafin got the start against the Garnet for a second time in a week, lasting seven innings with three earned runs.
Swarthmore will look to get back on track when it hosts Washington College on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 3:30.
