TACOMA, Wash.—Swarthmore College Baseball recorded 22 runs and 20 hits in a doubleheader sweep of the University of Puget Sound Loggers on Wednesday. Coleson Hebble and Jackson Roberts each mashed a grand slam on Wednesday.
The Garnet held a comfortable five-run advantage in both contests, winning game one 10-5 and game two 12-7.
GAME ONE: Swarthmore 10, Puget Sound 5
The Garnet exploded for nine runs in the top of the third inning to run away with game one. Puget Sound was charged with four errors in the inning and Swarthmore made them pay for it.
Hits from Conor Elliott and Jared Gillen helped Swarthmore to a 3-0 lead in the third. A pair of hit batters then loaded the bases for freshman Coleson Hebble with one out. Hebble, in the words of the comical walkup song created for him by his teammates, "likes to hit the ball over the fence", and that he did. Hebble hit a grand slam to left field for his first collegiate home run.
Base hits from Charlie Levitt and Cole Beeker brought home two more runs that inning to make it a 9-1 game.
Charles Groppe pitched seven strong innings in his first start of the year, striking out five and walking none to get the win. Sawyer Lake and Frank Sammartini combined for five more strikeouts to close out the game.
GAME TWO: Swarthmore 12, Puget Sound 7
Swarthmore's scoring was more evenly distributed throughout the game in the nightcap. The Garnet scored at least one run in innings three through seven.
Jackson Roberts was outstanding at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with five RBIs and a walk. Four of his RBIs game on a grand slam in the seventh inning that put Swarthmore ahead 12-4 and was also his first collegiate home run.
AJ Liu and Conor Elliott each went 2-for-6 and Liu finished with three RBIs from the leadoff spot in the lineup.
Tied 1-1 entering the top of the fourth, Swarthmore strung together seven straight runs and led 8-1 by the middle of the sixth.
Puget Sound pulled within four runs in the bottom of the inning after hitting a three-run home run. However, in the top of the seventh, Swarthmore got four runs back on one swing. Swarthmore's first two batters in the inning were retired, but Cole Beeker kept the inning alive by getting hit by a pitch. Elliott hit a single and Gillen walked to load the bases. Roberts faced a 2-2 count when he got a pitch he liked and drove the two-out grand slam over the wall in center field.
Beeker, who typically plays first base, pitched five innings and got the win. He batted for himself and then later played DH and went 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Jackson Ramey went three innings of middle relief and Jack Corkery closed out the game. Corkery got in a little jam in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs, but he struck out the final batter looking to end the game.
Swarthmore travels to Salem, Oregon, to play Willamette University in a three-game series this weekend.
