HAVERFORD, Pa.–Needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, the Swarthmore College baseball team rose to the occasion with a resounding 14-7 victory over the Haverford College Fords on Friday, April 28.
Sophomore outfielder
Charles Levitt had a career day with two home runs, five RBIs, four hits and three runs.
Max Grullon also homered in the contest and three other players (
Ryan Burnett,
Wesley Fishburn and
AJ Liu) had multi-hit games in addition to Grullon. Swarthmore pounded out 16 hits and capitalized on four errors by the host to avenge a rivalry loss earlier this week.
The Fords jumped ahead early with three runs in the opening frame, but the Garnet settled in and held them at bay for the remainder of the contest. In the third, Liu led off with a walk and reached second on Levitt's base hit. Fishburn plated a run and a throwing miscue by the Haverford catcher allowed another tally to score.
The Garnet evened the game in the fourth on Grullon's solo shot before the hosts responded by breaking the deadlock and regaining a 5-4 lead. Then, the Swarthmore offense erupted for a combined 11 runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take full control of the contest.
Cole Beeker drove in two runs in the fifth and Gurllon plated
Conor Elliott on a single to left. In the sixth, Levitt went yard for the first time in the contest, scoring Liu and Burnett, before five runs crossed the plate in the seventh. A wild pitch brought in Beeker, Burnett tripled in
Kenji Yoshii and Levitt hit another homer to put the Fords away. The hosts put two on the board in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little too late.
Sawyer Lake earned the win as the pitcher of record and
Zach Gonzalez finished out the final two frames.
The Garnet conclude their regular season at home with a conference doubleheader against McDaniel on Saturday, April 29 at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. To remain in the postseason hunt, Swarthmore must reach nine wins by sweeping the Green Terror and will require help as Ursinus, Haverford and F&M sit at nine, 8.5, and 8.5 wins, respectively.