SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Late-inning excitement was plentiful on Friday, but shaky defense doomed the Swarthmore College baseball team (19-12, 7-5 CC) as it suffered a heartbreaking 6-5 loss in 11 innings to the Muhlenberg College Mules (17-14, 5-7 CC) at Clothier Field.

Sophomore starter Luke Alventosa threw nine innings, allowing three earned runs and striking out four. Senior right fielder Tim Kwilos, sophomore shortstop Danny McMahon, sophomore centerfielder Trevor Shepherd, and sophomore left fielder Brian Kaissi each earned two hits. Kwilos and Kaissi drove in a pair of runs apiece.

A few tough-luck runs off of Alventosa put the Garnet down 2-0 by the third inning, but Kwilos' two run single in the fifth put Swarthmore right back in it. In the sixth, the Garnet took the lead on Kaissi's two-RBI knock.

With Alventosa cruising into the eighth inning, the two-run advantage appeared as though it would be enough; however, with two outs, Muhlenberg pushed two across on a single to tie the game at four. The Garnet could not manage to score the winning run in the eighth or the ninth, sending the game to extras.

Muhlenberg went up by one in the top of the tenth on a sacrifice fly; Swarthmore, not to be outdone, tied the game in the bottom of the inning as sophomore Zach Powell, who had come on as a pinch-runner, stole home with one out. The Garnet had a chance to win the game in that inning, but made the third out with the go-ahead run stranded on third.

In his second inning of relief work, freshman Nathan Booth quickly picked up two outs and seemed on his way to a 1-2-3 shutdown frame before a bunt and an infield error allowed Muhlenberg to take the 6-5 lead. The Garnet could not rally in the eleventh, going down in order to give the Mules the victory.

Swarthmore will travel to face McDaniel in a doubleheader tomorrow, as it hopes to stay in the thick of the postseason hunt. First pitch is set for 12:30 pm.