The SwampBats hit four RBI singles in a row in the fourth inning, but managed only one hit after that in a 7-4 loss on Sunday at the Sanford Mainers. 

Sanford opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a two-run triple to the right-center field gap. Jackson Gaspard (Georgia Tech) came in for relief after a walk, and then issued another to load the bases. The next batter made the SwampBats’ collective hearts skip a beat with a deep fly ball to left, but it fell into the glove of Jake Koonin (Princeton). The SwampBats recorded their first hit when Nick Romano (Florida Atlantic) pulled a single into left to lead off the fourth. With two outs, the SwampBats put up one of their more impressive rallies of the summer. Bryce Molinaro (Penn State) poked an RBI single into right, and then stole second base. David Mendez (Vandirbilt) followed in kind with an RBI hit and a stolen base. Andrew Wiggins (Indiana) gave the SwampBats the lead with a single past the diving shortstop, and moved to second on the throw home, which Mendez beat with a headfirst dive. JD Jones capped off the rally by scoring Wiggins with a base hit down the left field line which made it 4-2 Keene.

Sanford began the bottom of the fourth with a double and a single to place runners at the corners. The Mainers, who have set the record for stolen bases in a season as a team, then executed a double steal to score a run. The next batter tripled to the wall in right to tie the game, and scored on a subsequent sacrifice fly to give Sanford a 5-4 lead. Jake Millan (Florida Atlantic) crushed a double nearly 400 feet to the right-center field gap in the sixth, but the SwampBats could not drive him home. Sanford tacked on a run with back-to-back doubles in the seventh but a 5-4-3 double play by the SwampBats ended the inning. Stephen Bangs (Franklin Pierce) pitched three innings of relief, allowing just one run on two hits. The Mainers scratched out an additional run in the eighth on an infield single, two stolen bases, and a wild pitch to make it 7-4 against Jacob Bean (Kent State) who struck out two. The SwampBats did not manage a baserunner over the final two innings

The Swampbats (24-18) visit Upper Valley on Monday and finish up the regular season on Monadnock Broadcasting Group night against Sanford on Tuesday. Military and First Responders will be recognized at the game. The SwampBats have clinched a wild card berth for the playoffs. They are one game behind Sanford for the top wild card spot with two games left, but Sanford owns the head-to-head tiebreaker. Mystic is currently the third wild card, a game and a half behind Keene.