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BY MELINDA PETRE

In print | April 10, 2008

Baseball (8-12, 2-7 CC) played four games this past week, two against Franklin and Marshall College, and one apiece against Centennial Conference foes Ursinus College and Muhlenberg College. They walked away with an impressive win and three hard-fought losses.

The weekend began with a rematch against Ursinus, following the hard loss on April 2. Prior to Friday’s away game, the baseball team knew Ursinus was a good team, “and we expected to play a competitive ballgame,” explained Scott Dalane ’08. Unfortunately come Friday, Swarthmore suffered a hard loss to the Bears (12-7, 5-4 CC) 10-1.

“They scored all but one of their runs that day in one inning, which means that for eight of the nine innings we silenced their bats,” explained Conor Casey ’09. “We just need to avoid the big inning on defense in the future.”

The team agrees. “Friday’s loss was a real heartbreaker for us. We wanted to get that one real bad, but it just got away from us before we even knew it,” added Dylan Smith ’09. Andy Allen ’11 (1-2) picked up the loss, pitching to start the game for the Garnet.

Saturday afternoon began as a great day for Swarthmore baseball as they picked up their first win against the Franklin and Marshal Diplomats (11-10, 6-2), 3-1.

The Diplomats have qualified for three of the last four NCAA Division III tournaments. With the win, the Garnet ended an eight-game, four-year losing streak to the Diplomats and also put an end to the Dips’ current five game winning streak.

Freshman pitching standout, Neil Mejia ’11 (4-2) pitched all seven innings, striking out four and allowing only three hits.“It was a big victory for the program,” explained Dalane.

“Winning that first game against F&M was the biggest game in my Swat career, so far at least! We have been working so hard, but getting varied results. That game showed us all of our work has paid off, and that we can play with anyone,” added Smith.

“The best part of the game was watching the confidence our team played with for all seven innings,” said Dalane.

“The best moment of that game for me was the final out, seeing the ball fall into Thomas Nakamura’s glove,” said Casey.

“So much credit to Mejia, he pitched one heck of a game,” said Smith.

Saturday was also what has become the annual “Ponytail Day,” during which fans are encouraged to sport ponytails, and any supporting fans received a baseball signed by Swarthmore junior Dylan “Ponytail” Smith.

This year, Smith was considering donating his hair to “Locks of Love,” a program which takes hair donations to construct wigs for disadvantaged children suffering from long term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. (More information on “Locks of Love” can be found at www.locksoflove.org/index.html ).

So, arrangements were made to have a barber come to Swarthmore’s field, and Smith got his hair cut between games in front of fans and teams. “The hair cut between games was great. I had so much fun, and it looked like everyone else did too,” explained Smith, “It was definitely something I will never forget.”

The afternoon then continued with a second match-up between the Garnet and the Diplomats. “After the first game win, I knew that we could compete with them, so I expected that we would play them hard again,” said Casey.

However, in Saturday’s second game, Swarthmore fell 12-8 to the Dips after a hard-fought battle. “We were feeling confident, but we knew it was going to be a battle the whole game,” said Smith. Adam Koshkin ’11 (0-2) picked up the loss for Swarthmore on the mound.

Swarthmore returned to the field Tuesday to face a solid Muhlenberg team, fresh off their victory over defending conference champions #15 Johns Hopkins. In a game that remained scoreless into the fourth inning, in which Muhlenberg picked up a 6-0 lead, Swarthmore lost 9-2 to the Mules (13-13, 4-5 CC). “Even with the disappointing results from Tuesday’s game, I know we can win on Friday. I expect that we will come out with a lot more fire — even at their place,” explained Casey.

Baseball travels to Muhlenberg Friday for a much anticipated rematch. The game is set to start at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Garnet will return to Swarthmore for a parents weekend doubleheader showdown with conference foe McDaniel College. Saturday’s games are set to start at 12:30 p.m.

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