Box Score

SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Sophomore Oscar Leong went a perfect 4-for-4 and homered to lead the Swarthmore College baseball team to an 11-7 victory over Penn State Brandywine on Friday, March 21 at Clothier Field.

The Garnet got contributions offensively from every part of their lineup, as five players recorded multiple hits and three drove in at least two runs. In addition to Leong's breakout performance, senior Nicko Burnett finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and went yard for the second straight game. Sophomore John Lim and senior Cody Ruben were each 2-for-4, while junior Gregory Cox recorded three hits and scored twice.

Even though the team failed to record a hit until the fourth inning, Penn State Brandywine found a way to get on the board in the top of the first. Freshman leadoff hitter Josh Dellipriscoli was plunked by a pitch to start the game, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout to right and then scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Charles Herman.

Swarthmore, however, responded with six runs in the bottom half of the second and never looked back. Leong, who singled earlier in the inning, scored the go-ahead run on a Nittany Lion catcher before freshman Ryan Burnett smacked a two-run double to right center for insurance. Junior Danny McMahon would later make it 6-1 by grounding out to short with two runners in scoring position, plating Nicko Burnett.

After the Garnet added two runs in the third to build up a seven-run advantage, Penn State Brandywine (2-5 ) started to chip away at the deficit by taking advantage of a Garnet error in all three of the middle innings. Sophomore Dan McMenamin scored and drove in a run during the stretch to help the Nittany Lions get back in the game.

Leading by three runs, Swarthmore added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Nicko Burnett doubled to score Lim, who singled through the right side to get the offense started, and Leong recorded an RBI hit with the bases loaded to create a 10-5 score. The Nittany Lions would come no closer than three runs the rest of the way.

Junior Luke Alventosa, who hold the Nittany Lions hitless through three innings, picked up the victory and improved to 2-0 on the season. He gave up four hits and four runs, including two earned, in five innings of work. He fanned four and issued just one walk. Sophomore Brian Bosco suffered the loss for the visitors after being lit up for eight hits and eight runs, including three earned, over four frames.

Swarthmore (8-4) will continue its homestand when it welcomes Richard Stockton for a twinbill on Sunday, March 23 at 12 p.m.