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Garnet Posts First-Ever NCAA Win

Garnet Posts First-Ever NCAA Win

APPLETON, Wis.--Swarthmore College Baseball won a Division III Championship game for the first time in program history on Saturday by a 10-5 score over No. 4-ranked Wooster College.

It was a must-win for the Garnet (38-10), who lost their first game to No. 8 Concordia Chicago on Friday. Swarthmore, one of six teams remaining in DIII baseball, now plays in another elimination game on Sunday at 2:15 p.m. ET.

The Garnet wasted no time bouncing back on Saturday, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Junior Jackson Roberts started his big day by doubling to right field and driving in sophomore AJ Liu. junior Conor Elliott had an RBI on a fielder's choice, and sophomore Jared Gillen also had an RBI double.

Swarthmore made it 4-0 in the second as junior Charles Levitt hit a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed sophomore Kenji Yoshii to score.

The Fighting Scots (40-10) came within one run in the top of the fifth inning and had a runner on third base with one out. At that moment, Yoshii and sophomore pitcher Sawyer Lake combined to regain the momentum for Swarthmore. Lake threw a pitch that bounced off of Yoshii and rolled toward the opposing dugout on the first-base line. The opposing runner was dashing for home as Yoshii scurried after the ball and flipped it to Lake. Lake caught it and fell to the ground, laying down a tag with his back to the runner that would result in an out. Wooster didn't score again until the top of the ninth inning.

Swarthmore responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, all of which were scored with two outs. Elliott drove in his second run of the game with a single to right, and Gillen had a two-RBI double, making the score 7-3.

Roberts delivered the exclamation point in the bottom of the seventh, crushing a no-doubt home run off of the jumbotron in left field. The two-run shot was his 10th of the season, making him the first Garnet player to ever hit 10 home runs in a season.

Swarthmore took a 10-3 lead in the eighth on another RBI hit from Roberts, who finished the day 4-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs scored and a triple shy of the cycle. Beeker also went 4-for-5 with three runs scored.

Lake pitched the entire game. He and Yoshi combined to pick off three runners.

The Garnet had 14 hits and now have 27 in two World Series games.

If Swarthmore wins tomorrow afternoon they'll play again at 8:45 p.m. ET.