PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The bats were hot as Swarthmore College Baseball collected 33 hits in a pair of victories at the Snowbird Classic on Monday. The Garnet (6-2) defeated Ohio Wesleyan (1-2) 20-5 in the morning and rallied to knock of No. 15 Marietta College (5-1), 6-5 in the afternoon game.
GAME ONE: Swarthmore 20, Ohio Wesleyan 5
Ohio Wesleyan took an early 2-1 victory in the bottom of the first inning, but that lead was short lived. As the second batter of the second inning,
Austin Burgess tied the game up at two with a solo home run.
Swarthmore took a commanding lead as it scored 17 runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Colson Hebble started the opened the offensive flood gates with a leadoff double in the sixth inning. The shortstop and
Ari Fierer scored as
Emmet Reynolds reached base on an error by the Bishops third baseman.
Luke Mutz,
Holden Bridge, and
Josh Bein all knocked in runs in the six run sixth inning for the Garnet.
Hebble started the five run seventh inning with a walk. Hebble and Burgess scored on an RBI single by Mutz. Bridge and Gillen hit in the other runs for Swarthmore.
Nate Jbara collected his first collegiate hit with a single up the middle to advance Bein to second base. Travor Dale added a single, while Reynolds rocketed an RBI triple to deep right center in the top of the eighth inning.
Reynolds finished the game 1-for-3 with two runs scored, and a pair batted in. Beeker collected a season-high four hits, while Mutz hit 2-of-4 from the plate with four runs scored, three walks, and four runs batted in.
On the mound,
Matteo Sollecito earned the victory after allowing seven hits, two runs and striking out four in six innings of work. Bridge and
Kyle Jones-Shah added two strikeouts, while
Adam Schauer struck out in an inning of work, each.
Last year, the Garnet took care of business against the Battling Bishops 12-0 in Port Charlotte, Fla.
GAME TWO: Swarthmore 6, No. 15 Marietta 5
On its way to improving to 6-2 on the season, Swarthmore handed Marietta its first loss of the 2020 campaign. After the Pioneers left two men on base in the bottom of the first inning, the heart of the Garnet order sparked the offense in the top of the second.
Jared Gillen started the inning off with a first pitch single through the left side. The centerfielder moved to second base on a walk by five pitch walk by
Josh Bein. After advancing on a wild pitch to
Coleson Hebble, the pair moved into scoring position with no outs. The junior roped a two run single down the left field line.
Emmet Reynolds knocked in Hebble on a sacrifice fly to left field.
The following inning saw
Luke Mutz score from second base on a double by
Holden Bridge to right center. Swarthmore added its fifth run of the game in the top half of the fifth inning. After reaching base on a fielder's choice,
Cole Beeker stole second base. On a 1-2 pitch, Gillen popped out to first base in which Beeker advanced to being only ninety feet from scoring. Bein received the green light and roped a 3-0 pitch through the right for an RBI single to score Beeker.
The Pioneers added four runs in the bottom of the seventh and tied the game at 5 in the bottom of the eighth.
Beeker led the top of the ninth off with a double to left field. After Gillen and Bein were unable to advance the runner over to third, Hebble was intentionally walked to create the force out. Burgess reached base on a walk to load the bases and Beeker would score as
Ari Fierer reached base on a fielder's choice.
Jack Corkery earned the victory after allowing three hits, two walks, a run and striking out three in 1.2 innings on the hill.
Zach Camp collected the save as the righty struck out Jacob Thieman to end the game.
The Garnet extend its winning streak to two games over the Pioneers as they earned an 11-5 decision on last years spring break. It is the first time this season that Swarthmore has defeated a ranked opponent. Last season, the Garnet defeated three ranked opponents including No. 1 Wooster, No. 7 Rowan and No. 21 Johns Hopkins.
Swarthmore returns to the field on Tuesday as they take on La Roche University for the second time this trip. First pitch against the Red Hawks in North Charlotte, Fla. is set for 12:00 p.m.
