SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College baseball team (21-15, 9-7) suffered a heartbreaking loss on Friday, as a 10-inning contest against the Ursinus Bears ended in a 9-4 defeat on Senior Day at Clothier Field.

Junior first baseman Nicko Burnett drove in two runs on a pair of hits to lead the offense. Sophomore designated hitter Scoop Ruxin also picked up two hits, as did sophomore outfielder Trevor Shepherd.  Sophomore Joe Rizzo added an early triple. Senior starter Ramsey Walker battled through seven innings, allowing three earned runs.

The loss means that the Garnet's playoff hopes now hinge on Saturday's doubleheader at Franklin & Marshall; Swarthmore will need to sweep the doubleheader to reach the Centennial playoffs.

The contest was the last home game for Swarthmore's seven seniors, as Walker, Rory McTear, Tim Kwilos, Sean Bryant, Sean Mangus, Bryce Codell, and Nick Harbist took their final curtain call in front of the home town crowd.

All appeared to be going smoothly for the Garnet through the first three innings as the team built a 3-0 lead despite missing several scoring opportunities, capitalizing on singles by Ruxin and Burnett and a triple from McTear, who was playing centerfield in his first game back from injury.

Ursinus scratched out a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth, however, playing small-ball and taking advantage of several bunt singles to tie the score.

The game remained tied into the seventh, when Ursinus scored once to take a 4-3 lead.  The Garnet fought back, tying the game in the bottom of the inning on Burnett's double to deep centerfield.

As the innings rolled on, Swarthmore had plenty of opportunities to seal the win, but could not manage to push across the vital run.
 
As the game went to the 10th, a would-be double-play grounder which took a bad hop on shortstop Danny McMahon spelled trouble for the Garnet; that, along with two other errors in the inning, allowed Ursinus to score five times, taking a 9-4 lead.

Swarthmore put the first two on in the bottom of the inning, but could not mount a rally.

Tomorrow's do-or-die doubleheader from Lancaster is set to begin at 12:30 p.m.