After nearly going undefeated during their run in Florida, No. 11 Rowan Baseball (14-2) was welcomed home to Glassboro with a win, defeating the Swarthmore Garnet 8-1 in their home opener.

The Profs won seven of eight games at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, losing their last game of the trip in extra innings to St. Olaf on March 20. Their win against the Garnet builds a three-game win streak since being down south, after wins over Dickinson and Penn State Abington on the road in the past two days, both by a final score of 12-0.

“It feels good to get back playing the right way. Just had some tough luck that last day in Florida,” head coach Mike Dickson said. “But today, we did, so it felt good coming back and getting a couple wins of the past couple of days.”

Marco Mannino got the hitting party started in the bottom of the second with a two-RBI single to give the Profs a 2-0 lead. 

“Our scouting report said he [pitcher] stole a lot of things outside, so it was really just trying to get my pitch,” Mannino said. “And once I got it, I tried to get my best swing on it to work for the team.”

Thomas Sullivan took the mound for the Profs and kept things under control until the top of the fifth, when the Garnet put the pressure on.

Facing the top of the order for the second time, Sullivan came face-to-face with Swarthmore’s leadoff man Leor Kadar. After getting him to a full count, he threw Kadar a slider to force a popup to deep left field, ending the inning and cutting the Garnet’s advances short.

“I knew with the at-bat before with him, I was going fastball heavy, so we decided to go more off-speed,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan fared better on the mound during his second start of the season, giving up only one run and dishing out one strikeout in nearly six innings of work. For comparison, he gave up four runs in six innings in his season debut on March 17 against Amherst while dishing out eight strikeouts.

“I definitely threw more strikes [during my last start], but my hitters behind me got runs and we ended up winning,” Sullivan said.

The Profs offense exploded for four runs in the bottom of the sixth, courtesy of RBI doubles from Brayden Davis, Phil Sedalis, and pinch hitter Jason Schooley to put the Profs up 7-0.

“They were able to bottom over and Jason comes in, does a good job getting a big one out double and the flood gates kind of opened after that,” Dickson said. “I believe that innings like that break open the games.”

Dickson also noted Joey Bogart getting hit by a pitch to start the inning was a catalyst that caused the runs to snowball for the Profs.

“It all started with Joey getting hit by that pitch. If he doesn’t get hit by a pitch in that inning, things would have looked completely different,” Dickson said.

The Profs now turn to inter-conference play, facing their first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opponent, the No. 12 ranked Kean Cougars on March 29. Building off their strong offensive components, the team will look to hold off a conference rival that’s right on their coattails in the standings.

“We pride ourselves really in doing our jobs, especially lower in the lineup getting hit by pitches and finding any way to get on first base for the top five,” Mannino said. “I think we’re doing a real good job of just moving around and getting guys in good positions to score.”

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