March 25, 2008
Shoremen Show Swarthmore The Door, 8-2
Washington Wins Conference Opener For Second Straight Year

CHESTERTOWN, MD - Sophomore Chris Smith (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) tossed 6 2/3 innings of one run ball for the win and freshman Paul McMannis (Arbutus, MD/Lansdowne) pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for his first career save as the Washington College baseball team won its second straight Centennial Conference opener Tuesday, defeating visiting Swarthmore College, 8-2, at Athey Field. The Shoremen improve to 5-5 on the season, while the Garnet drop to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

Swarthmore broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning with a two-out double by Scott Dalane that scored Wiley Archibald and gave Swarthmore a 1-0 lead. Washington answered with two in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. Junior Rob Rifkin (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) knotted the game at 1-1 on a single to left field that scored junior Dan DeMarco (Bethesda, MD/Walt Whitman). The Shoremen would load the bases and grabbed a 2-1 lead when Rifkin was forced in on a walk to junior Ben Kaplan (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson).

Swarthmore threatened in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally. The Garnet loaded the bases and McMannis was brought in to relieve Smith and face Andy Eisenlohr. McMannis struck out Eisenlohr to quelch the threat and keep it 2-1 Shoremen.

Washington busted open the game with six runs in the bottom of the eighth, all coming after the first two batters were retired. Junior Greg Perret (Morris Plains, NJ/Bayley Ellard) began the rally with a double down the right field line. The next batter, junior Joe Coveney (Madison, NJ/Madison) plated Perret on a single to right to make it 3-1 Shoremen. Senior Kirk Hines (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) would pinch run for Coveney and score on a single by DeMarco and made it 4-1 hosts. Sophomore Brian Kramer (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) made it 5-1 when he scored from third base on a failed pickoff attempt of DeMarco at first base. Senior James Tidwell (Newark, DE/Charter School of Wilmington) made it 7-1 on a two-run single to left field, plating DeMarco and Rifkin. Kaplan then singled through the left side to knock in sophomore Tom Heppard (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) to make it 8-1 and close out the scoring for the frame.

The Garnet got one in the top of the ninth when Ben Schneiderman scored on a throwing error to provide the final margin.

Smith picked up the victory and improve to 2-2 on the season. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run and striking out three. McMannis registered the save by pitching the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one hit and one unearned run. Jimmy Gill takes the loss for Swarthmore and falls to 1-1. He allowed six hits and two runs over six plus innings of work.

Coveney went 3-for-4 with an RBI for the Shoremen. DeMarco and Tidwell each went 2-for-4 in the win with DeMarco scoring two runs and Tidwell driving in two runs. Rifkin scored two runs and plated one, while Kaplan had two RBI.

Archibald went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Garnet, while Conor Casey and Kevin Kooi each had two hits.

The Shoremen and Garnet will complete their season series Friday with a 3:30 p.m. game at Swarthmore.

BOX SCORE