SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College baseball team came up just short in a tightly-contested matchup against No. 24 Misericordia University, 6-5, on Tuesday afternoon.
The reigning Centennial Athlete of the Week Aidan Sullivan reached base in all five plate appearances with a couple hits and three walks at the top of the order. The sophomore was responsible for three of the team's five runs scored, while also extending his hit streak to 16 games.
Matthew Silvestre tallied two RBI with a pair of hits to take advantage of Sulllivan's activity on the base paths. Max Roffwarg and Jett Shue also contributed an RBI to round out Swarthmore's scoring.
The bullpen gave the Garnet a chance with three-shutout innings against a high-powered Cougars' offense. Jeremy Jensen, Casey Jordan and Jack Bowling allowed just one hit and two walks in the final three innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sullivan scored without the Garnet recording a hit in the opening frame. The sophomore led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and then advanced to second on a ground out. He then touched third base on a flyout to right field, before coming home to score on a two-out wild pitch, 1-0.
- Misericordia got their run back in the second with a leadoff home run, before being sent down rather quickly to end the frame. The Cougars then added two more runs in the third inning to build a two-run cushion, 3-1.
- Swarthmore answered back in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs. Wilson Henze singled to center to lead off the inning, while Sullivan put two runners in scoring position with a double to left-center. Roffwarg and Silvestre then plated both runners with back-to-back sacrifice flyouts, 3-3.
- Noah Potholm bounced back with a shutdown inning in the fourth. The sophomore generated three-straight groundouts to retire the Cougars in order. Swarthmore then took the lead in the bottom half after their leadoff hitter reached base again. Brad Johnston got things started with a single to right field, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then came home to score on a one-out Shue single to right-center, 4-3.
- The Cougars flipped momentum once again with a two-out rally in the fifth. After a pair of ground outs to open the frame, Misericordia tied the game with a single and a triple. The Cougars then took the lead on a go-ahead single to right field, 5-4.
- Swarthmore threatened in the bottom of the fifth after bunting their leadoff hitter into scoring position with one out. The Garnet eventually had runners on the corners following a single, but were unable to get a run home on a shallow fly ball, before ending the inning with a foul out.
- Misericordia slugged another solo homer to take a two-run lead in the sixth. After Sullivan walked in the eighth, Sivestre plated another run with a two-out single to center. Silvestre then stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position, but was left stranded. The Garnet then came up short with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
GARNET OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Sullivan: 2-for-2, 3 R, 3 BB, 2B
Silvestre: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, SB
Shue: 2-for-5, RBI
GARNET PITCHING LEADERS
Jensen: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 SO
UP NEXT
The Garnet (10-6) look to bounce back with another quality MAC Freedom opponent as they travel to DeSales University on Wednesday.
