BALTIMORE - The Swarthmore College baseball team saw its Centennial Championship hopes come to an end on Saturday with losses to No. 1 Johns Hopkins University, 5-4, and Haverford College, 24-10.
In the opener, the Garnet nearly erased a four-run deficit with a late rally against the top-ranked team in the nation. Max Roffwarg narrowed the gap with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, bringing Swarthmore within one run. Despite the late momentum, the Garnet were unable to complete the comeback and ultimately fell short in the ninth.
Swarthmore was eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Haverford in the nightcap. The Garnet fell into an early hole after surrendering 11 runs in the first inning and were unable to rebound from the early deficit. The game went late into the night with several weather delays.
SWARTHMORE 4, JOHNS HOPKINS 5
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Swarthmore struck first with a run in the opening frame. The Garnet put runners on the corners with a Matthew Silvestre single and a Hopkins fielding error. Zachary Kahn then walked to load the bases, while Benjamin Buchman drew another free pass to bring home Silvestre.
- Liam Alpern did his job, tossing a 1-2-3 frame to shut down the Blue Jays in the first inning. However, Hopkins took hold of the lead in the second with a two-run triple, 2-1.
- In the fourth inning, Johns Hopkins capitalized on a leadoff walk by adding an insurance run on a sacrifice fly. The Blue Jays threatened again in the fifth with a leadoff double, but Alpern worked out of the jam with three consecutive outs.
- Hopkins extended its lead with a two-run homer in the sixth, making it 5-1. In need of a rally, the Garnet loaded the bases in the seventh and pushed across a run after a batter was hit by a pitch. Kahn came to the plate with the bases still loaded but lined out to center field, ending the threat.
- After Alexander Rimerman helped the Garnet escape a jam in the seventh, Swarthmore's offense responded with a pair of runs in the eighth. Buchman led off the inning with a walk, and Roffwarg followed with a two-run homer, bringing the Garnet within one run. Leor Kedar then doubled to center field, but made the final out at third after trying to extend his hit to a triple.
- Down to their final two outs, Sullivan singled to second base to try to spark a late Garnet rally. However, Hopkins struck out the following two batters to end the game.
GARNET OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Roffwarg: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, HR
Sullivan: 1-for-3, 2 BB
GARNET PITCHING LEADERS
Alpern (L, 3-3) 6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 6 BB, 5 SO
Rimerman 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO
SWARTHMORE 10, HAVERFORD 24
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Fords sent 15 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring 11 runs on nine hits with three home runs. Haverford's cleanup hitter had two of the team's three home runs in a nightmarish start for the Garnet.
- Haverford added two more runs in the second, plating its 12th and 13th unanswered scores. The Garnet responded in the bottom frame with a Max Beadling sacrifice fly, and a pair of RBI hits from Nathaniel Kittredge and Silvestre, making it 13-3.
- The Fords added four runs over the next three innings. Haverford's clean-up hitter did more damage with his third homer of the game, tying a Centennial record for home runs in a single game. Sullivan got a run back in the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer, while Buchman launched a two-run shot to make it 17-6.
- Haverford kept adding to its tally with three-straight runs. The Garnet tacked on two in the seventh on a Kittredge single and then two more in the eighth with an Andrew Firko walk and a Jackson Clemens fielder's choice. However, the Fords piled on with three more runs in the ninth, including their fifth home run of the day.
GARNET OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Kittredge: 2-for-4, 3 RBI, R
Buchman: 2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR, BB
Sullivan: 2-for-5, HR
