HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Swarthmore Garnet scored 11 runs over the final four innings to defeat the Haverford College baseball team, 14-8, at Kannerstein Field on Thursday afternoon.
In the third inning, Swarthmore scored the first three runs of the contest. With one out, the Garnet's Cal Barnett-Mayoette laced a single to center and advanced a base on a wild pitch. Wesley Fishburn followed with a double down the right field line for the Garnet's first run. An error and RBI double by John Lim on consecutive plays put the Garnet up three.
The Fords responded with a four spot in the bottom of the fourth frame. Sophomore Ben Verducci led off with a walk followed by junior George Hatamiya being hit by a pitch. A ground out moved the runners to second and third before a wild pitch allowed Verducci to score. Hatamiya would also touch home a batter later on a wild pitch. Freshman Mike Schmandt hit his first collegiate home run to right center field to give the Fords a 4-3 advantage.
Swarthmore retook the lead in the sixth inning. An RBI double by Scoop Ruxin tied the contest at four. Ruxin would later come around to score on a wild pitch. An RBI double by Matt Palmer put the Garnet up 6-4 with two out. The Fords' Hood Trophy rival added five more runs in the seventh inning. Back-to-back two-run doubles and an error put the Garnet ahead 11-4.
The Garnett scored three more times in the eighth inning on a home run by Wesley Fishburn, RBI ground out by Danny McMahon and an error.
Haverford put together a crooked number in in the bottom of the eighth. The Fords' first run of the frame came on a balk. Two batters later, a wild pitch made the score 14-5. Pinch hitter Chance Griffiths ripped an RBI single up the middle and then Schmandt followed with an RBI hit to right. Senior Mike Tentilucci also came up with an RBI knock in the inning.
Schmandt tacked on a two-run base hit in the ninth inning to finish the scoring in the contest. The Fords had the tying run in the on-deck circle, but couldn't get any closer in their last at-bat. Schmandt finished with four hits, five RBI and stole two bases. Freshman Spencer Sohmer scored two runs while senior Max Gerard struck out five hitters and allowed one earned run over five innings in the loss.
Head coach Dave Beccaria's squad fell to 5-11 overall and 1-3 in the Centennial Conference while Swarthmore saw its record improve to 14-4 this season and 2-2 in conference action. The Fords end the week with a doubleheader at Dickinson on Saturday beginning at 12:30 p.m.