SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Senior Shane Daly led an offensive explosion with seven hits and six RBIs on the day as the McDaniel College baseball team split a doubleheader with Swarthmore on Sunday to close the regular season.

The Green Terror (18-20-1, 9-9 CC) have clinched the fourth seed in the 2025 Centennial Conference Baseball Championship and will host fifth-seeded Gettysburg on Tuesday at 3 p.m. from Preston Field.

McDaniel will make its second straight appearance in the conference playoffs, securing back-to-back berths for the first time since 2015-16. It will be the program's sixth appearance overall.

Game one was an offensive shootout as both teams combined for 38 runs. The Green Terror hit three home runs and eight extra-base hits in the 21-17 win.

McDaniel 21, Swarthmore 17 (Game 1)

Sophomore Ethan Haddock led off the opener with a solo homer and Daly followed with another, as the Green Terror quickly led 2-0 after the first two batters. Sophomore DJ Stolba drew a bases-loaded walk to score another run and put the visitors up 3-0.

The Garnet (23-16, 14-4 CC) responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the first. A sacrifice fly broke a 3-3 tie to give Swarthmore the lead after one.

McDaniel took the lead back with two runs in the second but Swarthmore answered again with three runs in the third. An RBI single tied the game 5-5, and the Garnet tacked on two more runs after a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk. 

The Green Terror regained the lead in the fourth, as sophomore Shea McKenna tied the game 7-7 on a two-run single.  Graduate student Joey Hubinger scored on a wild pitch to lead 8-7. Both teams traded runs over the next two half innings, with McDaniel going in front on an RBI-single from junior Matt Fuller in the fifth. 

Swarthmore tied the game 9-9 on an RBI single and broke the tie on another RBI single to lead 10-9 after six. Junior Ben Davis flipped the score on a two-run double in the seventh, but the Garnet answered again with two runs in the bottom half to lead 12-11. 

Haddock put the Green Terror ahead on a grand slam in the top of the ninth, his second homer of the game and his first career multi-homer game. The Garnet pulled even with two home runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game 15-15 and send the opener to extras.

A six-run 11th inning put McDaniel ahead for good. A two-run single from Daly put the visitors on top 17-15, and three straight RBI singles put 20 runs on the board for the Green Terror. Hubinger scored the 21^st run of the game after advancing on a failed pickoff attempt. Two Swarthmore runs in the bottom of the 11^th couldn't keep the game going, giving the visitors a wild win in the opener.

Daly had a five-hit game at the plate, the third McDaniel batter to do so this season. He finished 5-for-8 with three RBIs and five runs scored. Haddock went 4-for-6 with two homers and a team-high five RBIs. Davis and McKenna each had three hit performances while Davis had three RBIs and McKenna had four. Freshman Thomas Mezzullo also had three hits and an RBI while Hubinger had a hit, an RBI and three walks drawn. Stolba and Fuller also had RBIs as eight of nine starting McDaniel batters finished the opener with at least one RBI. 

The Green Terror set season-highs with three home runs and 23 hits in the win. The 21 runs scored tied a season-high set against Notre Dame (MD) on March 9.

Sophomore Kevin Hyde earned his first career pitching win, striking out two batters in relief. Five Green Terror pitchers saw the mound in game one, combining for five strikeouts and 11 walks.

McDaniel scored four runs in the sixth inning of game two but didn't get the chance to come back, falling 13-10 in a game called due to darkness.

Swarthmore 13, McDaniel 10 (Game 2)

After a scoreless first, the Garnet broke through in the second on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to lead 2-0. A three-run homer from Daly swung the lead to the Green Terror in the third, but Swarthmore responded with a solo homer in the bottom half to tie the contest 3-3.

Davis smashed an RBI double into left center field in the top of the fourth to put the Green Terror in front 5-3. Sophomore Patrick Kelly added another run on an RBI single in the fifth to make the score 6-3. 

Swarthmore pulled ahead with an eight-run fifth inning. The Garnet hit five RBI singles in the frame, scoring their eighth run on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Now trailing 11-6, McDaniel began a rally in the sixth, scoring on a two-run single from McKenna and cutting the deficit to one on a sacrifice fly from freshman Maximus Mullins. Swarthmore added two more runs in the bottom half to make the final score 13-10.

Daly continued a great day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a homer. Davis and McKenna each had two hits and two RBIs while Haddock went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Hubinger and Kelly also had two hit games while Kelly, Mullins and sophomore Quinn Dean finished with RBIs.

Senior Max Vener took the loss, striking out two while allowing five earned runs on six hits.