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LANCASTER, PA – Jeff Rowand (Jr., York, PA/Dallastown) pitched a two hitter in game one and leftfielder Corey Caruthers (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) gunned down the tying run at the plate and drove home the winning win in the bottom of the ninth in game two as the Franklin & Marshall College baseball team swept McDaniel College 11-2 and 4-3 in Centennial Conference action at Caplan Field. In game one, Rowand went the distance allowing two runs on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings as the Diplomats rallied from a 2-2 tie in the fourth to plate four runs in the fifth and five in the sixth to take an 11-2 victory. McDaniel (8-17, 3-9 Centennial Conference) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Zach Croft reached and advanced to second on an error in centerfield. Kevin Salamone grounded out to move Croft to third base and Jimmy Dahlgren grounded out to drive in Croft for a 1-0 lead. The Diplomats (20-8, 10-2 Centennial Conference) responded to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning as Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) doubled to drive in Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) after the pair singled to open the inning. The Green Terror tied the game in the fourth inning as Drew Mitchell came around to score on an RBI single by Steve Jordan to knot the game at 2-2. Franklin & Marshall regained the lead in the fifth as Pat O’Reilly (So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and Caruthers drove in pairs of runs for a 6-2 lead before the Diplomats put the game away in the sixth with five runs on six hits. At the plate, Caruthers led the Diplomats going two-for-four with four RBI and a run scored, while Kruger was two-for-three with two RBI and two runs scored as the Diplomats slammed 15 base hits, including four doubles. Dahlgren took the loss for McDaniel allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Jimmy Isaminger finished the game for the Green Terror going 1.1 innings with five runs on six hits and a walk. In game two, Caruthers singled to centerfield with the bases loaded to drive in O’Reilly in the bottom of the ninth to break a 3-3 tie and give F&M its 20th win of the season. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the top of the ninth inning and facing reliever Dan Tischler (So., New York, NY/Horace Mann), the Green Terror tied the game as Justin Bilohlavek doubled down the left field line and was lifted for pinch runner Keegan Weener. Mitchell reached on an error at third base to put runners on first and second with no outs before Tischler fanned Andy Eaton. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch by Tischler before Matt Teter struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. McDaniel tied the game as Steve Jordan singled through the left side of the infield to allow Wenner to score, but Caruthers came up firing and gunned down Mitchell at the plate trying to score to bring up the Diplomats bats in the bottom of the ninth. Stern singled and stole second base to lead off the bottom of the ninth before Kruger singled Stern over to third and stole second base to put runners on second and third with no outs. O’Reilly was intentionally walked to bring Caruthers to the plate as he drove a single to centerfield to plate Stern with the winning run. Tischler earned the win for the Diplomats going one inning with one run allowed on two hits with a pair of strikeouts, while McDaniel reliever Shawn Yohe took the loss allowing one run on four hits with a walk in one inning of work. F&M starter Matt Metsch (Fr., East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) earned a no decision as he went eight innings allowing two runs on three hits, three hit batsmen and a walk with three strikeouts, while McDaniel starter Chase Wolf sent seven innings with three runs on 13 hits and a walk with a strikeout. At the plate, O’Reilly finished three-for-four with two RBI, Kruger went three-for-four and Stern finished two-for-three with two runs scored, while Caruthers was three-for-five with an RBI. Overall, Caruthers finished the doubleheader five-for-nine with five RBI and a run scored as the Diplomats improved to 39-31 all-time against the Green Terror with a six game winning streak.
The wins keep F&M a half game back of Johns Hopkins (22-4-2, 10-1-1 CC) for first place in the Centennial Conference regular season race Franklin & Marshall (20-8, 10-2 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 18 at Swarthmore College in the first game of a home-and-home series. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
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