The Hobart baseball team rolled to a 16-5 win over Franklin & Marshall Diplomats baseball on Sunday at Penn Medicine Park, highlighted by a seven-run fourth inning. The Statesmen racked up nine two-out RBIs and swiped a season-best four bases in the game.
Senior Will Jones, junior Sean Garvin, and sophomore Jackson Rucker each had two hits, with Jones and Garvin driving in four runs apiece. First-year Jack O’Neil went 1-for-3, walked twice, and stole three bases. Seniors Cole Tarrant and Aaron Forgues combined for 10 strikeouts, with Tarrant fanning six in five innings for the win and Forgues adding four punchouts over the final two innings.
The Statesmen (6-1) took the early lead in the first inning. O’Neil reached on a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Jones’ single for a 1-0 edge.
Franklin & Marshall (3-2) briefly took the lead in the third with three runs, thanks to Michael von Zuben’s RBI single, a bases-loaded walk, and a Gideon Schwartz sacrifice fly.
Hobart responded in a big way in the fourth, scoring seven runs. Rucker opened the rally with an RBI single, Jack Byrnes added a sacrifice fly, and Garvin and junior Connor O’Neil each drove in two runs to put the Statesmen up 8-3.
In the fifth, Hobart added four more runs. Garvin singled in one, and Jones’ three-run double extended the lead to 12-3. F&M scored twice in the bottom half to make it 12-5.
The Statesmen capitalized on Franklin & Marshall miscues in the sixth inning, scoring three more runs. Sophomore Jack Farnen’s pinch-hit single drove in two, and Garvin tacked on another with a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 15-5. Hobart sealed the game in the seventh when Payton Johnson scored on a wild pitch, finalizing the 16-5 victory.
Game Notes:
- Garvin extended his hitting streak to 10 games and has reached base safely in 15 straight.
- Senior Christian Petry extended his on-base streak to 18 games.
- Jack O’Neil is the second Statesman in as many games to steal three bases, following senior Isaiah Pinto in Saturday’s 12-0 win.
Next up, Hobart travels to Tufts University for a three-game series starting Saturday, March 7 at noon.
