Kyle Aldrich Goes 3-for-5 with Three RBI in Win

SWARTHMORE, PA - Freshman Kyle Aldrich (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional) went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored as visting Washington College downed host Swarthmore College, 12-6, in Centennial Conference baseball action on Friday afternoon at Clothier Field. The Shoremen (9-6, 4-2 CC) avenged yesterday's 3-2 home loss in 10 innings to the Garnet (12-8, 4-2 CC) at Athey Baseball Park in Chestertown, MD. WC has now won three of the last four meetings at Clothier Field.

The Shoremen scored four runs in the top of the first to take a 4-0 lead off the bat. Freshman Sean Connole (Mt. Airy, MD/St. John's Catholic) scored on a error by Swarthmore to take a 1-0 lead. Another error by the Garnet allowed sophomore John Rolewicz (Bear, DE/Salesianum) to cross the plate and make it 2-0. Swarthmore's third error of the inning off the bat of Aldrich allowed two more runs to score to cap the scoring.

Swarthmore got one back in the first when Tom Nakamura scored on a two-out single to left field by Miles Santo. The Garnet cut it to 4-2 in the bottom of the second when Wiley Archibald drove in Michael Cameron on a single to right-center. In the bottom of the third, Swarthmore tied the game at 4-4 on a two-run single by Spencer Ross with two away. Both of the runs in the third were unearned.

Washington scored two runs in the top half of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead and a lead they would never relinquish. Aldrich led off the inning with a single through the left side and took second on a wild pitch. He scored on a single by Tyler Cotterell (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) to put WC up 5-4. Cotterell would score on a RBI single through the left side by Connole to push the lead to 6-4.

The Shoremen tacked on three runs in the top of the fifth to increase the lead to 9-4. Sophomore Ryan Normoyle (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) smacked a two-run single to left to give the guests an 8-4 cushion. Normoyle completed the scoring in the frame when he scored on an Aldrich single. Swarthmore cut the deficit to 9-5 with a run in its bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Gill that scored Mike Waterhouse.

The Shoremen scored twice in the seventh to increase their lead to 11-5. Normoyle scored on a two-bagger by sophomore Ben Jardot (McLean, VA/Flint Hill School) and he would score on a Cotterell single. WC added a run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Rolewicz and Swarthmore scored a run in the last of the ninth on a James Beall single that scored Matt Lamb to round out the scoring.

For WC, Normoyle, Cotterell and senior Matt Boucher (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) all registered two hits in the victory, with Normoyle scoring three times and Boucher twice. Also scoring twice for WC was Connole and Rolewicz. Cotterell and Normoyle both plated two teammates in the game. On the mound, senior Chris Smith (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) went the distance to get the win and improves to 3-1. He struck out six, walked just one and gave up 10 hits.

Archibald, Cameron and Ross each tallied two hits for Swarthmore in the game, while Nakamura and Mike Waterhouse both scored twice for the Garnet. On the mound, Dylan Jensen was saddled with the loss and falls to 2-2 as he went four innings. Garnet pitching surrendered 12 hits on the afternoon.

Both teams combined to make errors in the game, five for Swarthmore and three for Washington. Of the 18 runs, just eight were earned.

The Shoremen return to action tomorrow with a 12:30 p.m. Centennial Conference home doubleheader versus Gettysburg at Athey Baseball Park.