WESTMINSTER, Md. - Needing a win to keep pace in the race for a playoff spot, the McDaniel College baseball team got two with a sweep over Swarthmore on Senior Day Saturday at Preston Field.
The Green Terror (18-13, 9-5 CC) moved into third place in the Centennial Conference standings with their sweep of a conference opponent this season.
With four games remaining, McDaniel is half-a-game ahead of Franklin & Marshall, one in front of Haverford and a game-and-a-half on top of Swarthmore. The top five teams advance to the 2024 Centennial Conference Baseball Championship.
McDaniel 9, Swarthmore 4
The Garnet (17-15, 7-6 CC) took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before the Green Terror scored eight unanswered runs, including one in the first, two in the second and five in the fourth.
Freshman
Ethan Haddock tied the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first before RBI-singles by senior
Tyler Yohn and graduate student
Joey Hubinger in the second put McDaniel in front to stay, 3-1.
Leading by two, the Green Terror erupted for five runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single by Hubinger and an RBI-double by freshman
Shea McKenna as they built a seven-run lead through four.
The Garnet scored on a sac fly in the fifth and and RBI-double in the eighth, but that would be as close as they would get.
Hubinger went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs while Yohn was 3-for-5. Sophomore
Robert Weer also had three hits, going 3-for-4 with two runs.
Freshman
Ryan Buecker picked up his first career win, allowing just one run on one hit over 3.0 innings before giving way to graduate student
Ryan Martino who allowed one unearned run on one hit over 4.0 innings while striking out four.
Andrew Moy took the loss for the visitors, allowing eight runs on 12 hits over 4.0 innings.
McDaniel 10, Swarthmore 8
The Green Terror scored three first-inning runs and led 3-0 headed into the third before the Garnet scored four runs on four bases loaded walks to take a 4-3 lead.
McDaniel quickly tied the game on an RBI-ground out by freshman
Zach Gaeta in the bottom of the third before a three-run fifth put the team in front by three, 7-4. Two of the runs also came on bases loaded walks.
Another four runs in the sixth, this time on two, two-run singles by Xavier Taylor and Benjamin Buchman put the visitors back in front for the second time, 8-7.
However, the lead changed again for the fifth time when the Green Terror scored three unearned runs on two Swarthmore errors in the bottom of the eighth.
Leading by two, McDaniel went to its closer, junior
Conor Henderson, who picked up his fourth save of the season after retiring three of the five batters he faced.
The three-run eighth also gave sophomore
James Cosgrove his third win of the season as he improved to 3-0 with two runs on two hits and two walks over 2.2 innings of work.
Haddock and McKenna each had two hits for the victors while McKenna walked twice and scored three runs. Gaeta recorded two RBIs.
The two teams combined for 21 walks, 10 errors and seven hit-by-pitch.
McDaniel makes the push for its first appearance in the conference tournament since 2016 with three of its final four games on the road, beginning Tuesday aat Washington College. First pitch is at 3:30 p.m.
