North Charlotte, Fla. – Swarthmore College Baseball collected a pair of victories at the Snowbird Classic on Wednesday. In the first game, the Garnet defeated La Roche University, 15-4, for second consecutive time. For the second time this week, Swarthmore defeated a nationally ranked opponent in No. 21 The College of Wooster.
GAME ONE: Swarthmore 15, La Roche 4
In the top of the second inning,
Austin Burgess swung and miss strike three, but reached first base as the ball got away from the Red Hawks catcher. With
Ari Fierer facing a 2-1 count at the plate, Burgess stole second base. The first-year roped an RBI single to right center field to give the Garnet a 1-0 lead. A few batters later,
Holden Bridge knocked in Fierer on a sacrifie bunt to the pitcher. The Red Hawks were able to get a run back in the bottom of the second inning as Swarthmore held on for the 2-1 advantage.
La Roche had runners on first and second in the bottom of the third, as the Red Hawks tied the game at two on a bunt by Ryan Lyyn. With runners on the corners, the Red Hawks took its only lead of the game on a sacrifice fly to right field by Justin Swope.
Two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth was just the beginning for the Garnet. The flood gates opened up in the top of the seventh as the Garnet crossed the plate seven times. Bridge,
Jared Gillen,
Coleson Hebble all collected RBI doubles in the seventh inning. Hebble and
Josh Bein came across the plate as
Paul Cooke reached on error by the La Roche catcher making it a 14-3 Swarthmore lead.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Garnet added an insurance run on an RBI single by
Kirk Terada-Herzer.
Sawyer Lake allowed three hits three runs and three walks in eight innings of work. The lefty struck out nine as he earned his third victory of the season.
GAME TWO: Swarthmore 14, #21 Wooster 4
A pair of home runs led the Garnet in a victory over the #21 ranked team in the country. Hebble recorded the first home run in the third inning, and
Terell Dale roped a three-run home run to left center field in the top of the ninth inning.
Beeker finished the game 4-of-6 from the plate three runs, and Hebble added five RBis for the Garnet.
This victory marks the third time in program history that the Garnet have defeated the Fighting Scots. The first victory came during the 2018 College World Series as Swarthmore was victorious with a 10-5 decision. The Garnet and Wooster last met exactly a year ago, on March 11th, in Port Charlotte, Fla. with a 13-6 Swarthmore win.
The Garnet will close out the spring break trip with a 9:00 a.m. game against Baldwin Wallace University in North Charlotte, Fla.
