(MyKeeneNow) – The SwampBats earned a playoff berth with a 5-4 win over the Upper Valley Nighthawks. More than 2,000 fans watched on as the game ended on a play at the plate.

Upper Valley took the lead with a solo home run to left field leading off the second. The Nighthawk batter, Peyton Frehner, was given an individual warning for an unsportsmanlike bat flip as he began his trot. They doubled the advantage with another blast off the barn past the right field fence in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. The SwampBats got their first baserunner when Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) drew a two-out walk in the third. Joe Jaconski (Penn State) came up next and drilled the first pitch into the center field trees to tie the game at two.

In the top of the fourth, Frehner was hit by a pitch, and the Nighthawks’ bench took exception. The umpires conferenced again and issued warnings to both dugouts with tensions high between the division rivals. SwampBats’ starter Nick Timpanelli (Charleston Southern) finished his outing after four innings, allowing two hits, two runs, and one walk. He struck out four. Stephen Bangs (Franklin Pierce) replaced him and was greeted with a go-ahead home run. Jaconski led off the home sixth with a single to right, and David Mendez (Vanderbilt) reached on a bad throw by the shortstop to put runners at second and third. A wild pitch scored Jaconski to tie the game, and Mendez gave Keene a 4-3 on a fielder’s choice by Penn State’s Bryce Molinaro. Bangs departed after recording two outs in the seventh, with two and two-thirds innings of one-run relief to earn the win.

The SwampBats loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh on hits from Austin Hawke (Wake Forest) and Jaconski, plus JD Jones (Rutgers) getting hit by a pitch, but did not take advantage. Ripken Reese (Kent State) smashed his eighth home run of the season into the trees to make it 5-3 in the eighth. Nick Guidas (Kent State) was terrific in relief, recording the final out of the seventh, a one-two-three eighth, and the first out of the ninth without allowing a single baserunner. Sean Finn (Connecticut) came in for a two-out save and got the first out on a three-pitch strikeout. The next batter hit a home run to cut the lead to one, and the following batter drew a walk. Down to their final out, the Nighthawks puzzlingly opted against pinch-running for their first baseman at first base. The final batter of the game hit a double to the left field corner, but Jake Koonin (Princeton) fired a perfect throw to the relay man Hawke, who made another great throw to Jones, who held onto the tag to make the final out at home.

The SwampBats (24-15) have won three straight and hit the road for a doubleheader in Vermont on Saturday. The final game of the regular season is Monadnock Broadcasting Group night against Sanford on Tuesday. Military and First Responders will be recognized at the game.