Swarthmore College Men's Baseball

HIGHLIGHTS Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year: 2018 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year: 2018 256-188-2 record at Swarthmore; .576 win percentage NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2018, 2022 Centennial Conference Champion: 2018, 2022 Matt Midkiff is in his 13th season as the head baseball coach at Swarthmore College, where he has built one of the most successful and respected programs in the region. As the winningest coach in program history, Midkiff has guided the Garnet to a 256-188-2 record and a career collegiate coaching record of 310-275-4 over 16 seasons. Under Midkiff’s leadership, Swarthmore Baseball has reached new heights. The Garnet captured Centennial Conference Championships in both 2018 and 2022, with the 2018 team setting a school record with 38 wins and advancing to the NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. That historic season concluded with the team ranked No. 6 nationally—the highest finish in program history. In April 2024, Midkiff further cemented his legacy by earning his 229th career win at Swarthmore, surpassing Ernie Prudente to become the program’s all-time winningest head coach. Throughout his tenure, Midkiff has coached numerous all-conference, all-region, and All-America student-athletes. He has been honored as Centennial Conference Coach of the Year, D3Baseball.com Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, and ABCA Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. Before returning to Swarthmore as head coach in 2013, Midkiff served as head coach at Eastern University (2009–12), where he transformed a struggling program and was named MAC-Freedom Conference Coach of the Year in 2010. His collegiate coaching career began as an assistant at Swarthmore from 2007 to 2008. A native of Brandon, Florida, Midkiff played collegiately at the University of South Florida and Wilkes University, earning First Team All-Freedom Conference honors as a utility player during his junior year. He later completed an MBA in marketing at Wilkes while launching his coaching career. Midkiff lives with his wife Kelly, who was a four year letter winner in lacrosse at Old Dominion and their two children, Brooks and Paisley. Coaching Record  Team Year W-L-T Win % Conf. W-L-T Conf. % Postseason Eastern 2009 3-29 .094 0-16 .000 Eastern 2010 21-17 .553 10-11 .476 Eastern 2011 10-23-2 .314 6-14-1 .310 Eastern 2012 20-18 .526 8-13 .381 Swarthmore 2013 22-16 .579 10-8 .556 Swarthmore 2014 18-17 .514 7-11 .389 Swarthmore 2015 18-17 .514 4-14 .222 Swarthmore 2016 22-17-1 .562 6-11-1 .361 Swarthmore 2017 16-22 .421 9-9 .500 Swarthmore 2018 38-11 .776 15-3 .833 Centennial Conference Champions; College World Series Third Game Swarthmore 2019 27-12 .692 10-8 .556 Swarthmore 2020* 10-2 .883 n/a n/a Swarthmore 2022 23-19 .548 14-4 .778 Centennial Conference Champions; NCAA Regionals Third Game Swarthmore 2023 20-18-1 .526 9-8-1 .528 Swarthmore 2024 18-19 .486 8-10 .444 Swarthmore 2025 24-18 .571 14-4 .778 Centennial Conference Tournament Total at Eastern 4 seasons 54-87-2 .385 24-54-1 .310 Total at Swarthmore 12 seasons 256-188-2 .576 106-90-2 .540 Total 16 seasons 310-275-4 .530 130-144-3 .475 Episode #68, final one of 2020, is here! Really fun conversation with @SwatBaseball head coach @CoachMidkiff! Give a listen - https://t.co/r3LhSF42xk — 1 On 1 With Matt Leon (@1on1pod) December 16, 2020 ?? New Episode!@swarthmore Baseball’s winningest coach, Matt Midkiff, joins me to talk championship culture, D3 recruiting, and building leaders through baseball. ?? Listen now: https://t.co/kpeGj0SgtD#SignificantCoaching #D3Baseball #Leadership @CoachMidkiff @CentennialConf pic.twitter.com/bAH2QjdENR — Coach Matt Rogers (@RecruitCoach4U) March 21, 2025

HIGHLIGHTS Began at Swarthmore in 2002 Highest national ranking: #1 (10/20/2010) Centennial Conference Coach of the Year 2008, 2012 Six appearances and a 7-4-4 record in the NCAA Tournament Career Swarthmore record of 229-137-58; overall career record of 294-227-62. Eric Wagner took over the Garnet soccer program in 2002, transforming the team in short order. In 22 seasons, Wagner's teams have posted a 229-137-58 record, and have qualified for postseason tournament appearances 15 times.   The Garnet returned to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time under Wagner's command in 2021, after having reached the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in 2019. In 2013, Swarthmore captured its third ECAC championship and posted an undefeated home ledger of 9-0-3 at Clothier Field. Named Centennial Conference Coach of the Year in 2012, Wagner led the Garnet to a 16-3-2 record to steer the squad to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years. In 2011, the Garnet won their second ECAC championship, defeating the top two seeds en route to the title.  In 2010, Wagner's Garnet squad posted a 16-1-4 record, won the Centennial Conference Championship for the second time in three seasons (2010, 2008) and reached the NCAA Tournament for the third-consecutive season (2008-10). The 2010 season also saw the Garnet earn a No. 1 national ranking for the first time in program history.  During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Wagner led the Garnet to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.  For his coaching efforts during the breakthrough 2008 season, Wagner was named the Centennial Conference and Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. In more than 30 years coaching at the college level, Wagner has earned a reputation for developing talented young soccer players and building nationally competitive programs.  Emphasizing intelligent, creative attacking play, an honest work ethic, and hard-nosed, disciplined defending, Wagner's team had a +36 goal differential in '10, the best in program history.  In the past 16 seasons, the Garnet have had 59 All-Centennial Conference players, 20 All-Region stars, six All-America selections (Harry Nevins in 2021, Peter Maxted '14, Morgan Langley '11, Micah Rose '12 (twice), Jeff Kushner '09) and three players sign professional soccer contracts (Harry Nevins, Morgan Langley '11 and Ladule Lako Lo Sarah '09).  Wagner's Garnet squads have also earned multiple selections to the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Team and a department-best seven Academic All-Americans, which includes Reuben Heyman-Kantor '06 (First Team), Rose, D’Annunzio, Maxted and Michael Superdock '15 (twice). Wagner earned a B.A. from Connecticut College in '88, and an M.Ed. from Temple University in '07.  He played four years of Division III soccer for the Camels, after which he served as the assistant coach of the women's team at his alma mater.  He helped the Camels earn the school's first-ever ECAC Championship in 1988.  He was assistant coach at Wheaton College (Mass.), Duke University, and at The University of Notre Dame. In 1993, he was selected as the first head coach of the new varsity soccer program at Southwestern University in Texas. In 1997, Wagner moved to St. Mary's College of Maryland, where he became the winningest coach in the college's history. Wagner earned the Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and has also coached baseball and tennis at the college level. He has been a staff coach in four states' Olympic Development Programs, and a member of the Region 1 ODP staff.  Wagner's teams are always active in the community, with service projects, youth soccer clinics, and community outreach throughout the year. Wagner's playing career includes four years of NCAA soccer, one year with the Heidelberger Sport Club in Germany, two seasons in Raleigh, N.C. ('92 State Champions), two years in Austin, Tex. and a year of semi-pro soccer in Hartford, Conn. His connections to Swarthmore College go back several years, as two of his sisters graduated from Swarthmore. Lise ('85, Political Science) and Karin ('90, Religion) are two of the Garnet's most dedicated fans. Wagner lives in Swarthmore with his wife, Leslee, and has two grown sons, Camden and Nicholas. Coaching Record Team Year W-L-T Win % Conf. W-L-T Conf. % Postseason Southwestern (TX) 1993 3-11 .214 n/a n/a Southwestern (TX) 1994 4-13 .235 1-6-0 .143 Southwestern (TX) 1995 3-13-3 .237 2-4-1 .357 Southwestern (TX) 1996 6-11-1 .361 2-5-0 .286 St. Mary's (MD) 1997 9-7 .563 4-3-0 .571 CAC First Round St. Mary's (MD) 1998 9-10 .474 3-4-0 .429 CAC Semifinals St. Mary's (MD) 1999 9-10 .474 4-3-0 .571 CAC Semifinals St. Mary's (MD) 2000 8-10 .444 3-4-0 .429 CAC First Round St. Mary's (MD) 2001 14-5 .737 5-2-0 .714 CAC Semifinals Swarthmore 2002 5-14-1 .275 0-9-0 .000 Swarthmore 2003 5-12-2 .316 3-6-0 .333 Swarthmore 2004 12-7-2 .619 6-2-1 .722 Centennial Semifinals; ECAC Runner-Up Swarthmore 2005 12-6-2 .650 6-2-1 .722 Centennial Semifinals; ECAC Semifinals Swarthmore 2006 12-5-2 .684 6-3-0 .667 Centennial Semifinals; ECAC First Round Swarthmore 2007 14-3-3 .775 5-3-1 .611 ECAC Champions Swarthmore 2008 17-3-2 .818 8-1-0 .889 Centennial Champions; NCAA Sweet Sixteen Swarthmore 2009 16-2-3 .833 6-1-2 .778 Centennial Semifinals; NCAA Sweet Sixteen Swarthmore 2010 16-1-4 .857 7-0-2 .889 Centennial Champions; NCAA Second Round Swarthmore 2011 13-6-1 .675 5-4-0 .556 ECAC Champions Swarthmore 2012 16-3-2 .810 8-0-1 .944 Centennial Runner-Up; NCAA Sweet Sixteen Swarthmore 2013 12-5-4 .667 5-2-2 .667 Centennial Semifinals; ECAC Champions Swarthmore 2014 9-6-4 .579 3-5-1 .389 Swarthmore 2015 7-9-3 .447 3-3-3 .500 Centennial First Round Swarthmore 2016 7-10-1 .417 3-6-0 .333 Swarthmore 2017 4-10-3 .324 2-4-3 .389 Swarthmore 2018 9-7-1 .559 4-4-1 .500 Swarthmore 2019 11-4-5 .675 4-3-2 .556 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Swarthmore 2021 11-5-2 .667 6-2-1 .722 NCAA First Round Swarthmore 2022 6-7-4 .471 1-6-2 .222 Swarthmore 2023 5-7-5 .441 3-2-4 .556 Centennial First Round Swarthmore 2024 10-5-2 .647 3-5-1 .389 Total at Southwestern 4 seasons 16-48-4 .265 5-15-1 .262 Total at Saint Mary's 5 seasons 49-42-0 .538 19-16-0 .543 Total at Swarthmore 22 seasons 229-137-58 .608 97-73-28 .561 Total 31 seasons 294-227-62 .557 144-135-30 .515  

Brian Booth has been on the baseball coaching staff since 2017. He works primarily with hitters and catchers and serves as the Garnet third-base coach. Booth was put in charge of the offense prior to the 2018 season, during which the team posted a .339 batting average against Centennial Conference opponents en route to its first Centennial Conference title and first College World Series appearance. In 2019, the team improved offensively and finished the campaign with the highest batting average in Division III (.351). In total, Booth has coached Swarthmore hitters who have totaled 12 all-conference seasons, five ABCA all-region honors, one All-American award, and the Philadelphia Baseball Review's 2019 D-III Offensive Player of the Year award.    Before arriving at Swarthmore, Booth spent three years at West Chester East High School as the hitting, catching and infield coach. He got his start in coaching at his alma mater, Malvern Prep, in 2012.  Booth graduated from Millersville University in 2008 with a degree in Marketing. He was a three-year starting catcher for the Marauders. Booth began his collegiate career at LaSalle University in 2003.

Matt Rubayo joined the Swarthmore baseball coaching staff in 2024 with a strong foundation in player development, leadership, and a passion for helping student-athletes thrive on and off the field. A former collegiate outfielder and five-year member of the Marist College baseball program, Rubayo earned both a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications. Before arriving at Swarthmore, Rubayo worked at a private baseball development facility and coached a collegiate summer league team in Houston, where he focused on refining players’ skills and building competitive, growth-minded environments. At Swarthmore, he works primarily with the outfielders and plays a key role in the program’s scouting, baserunning, and player development efforts. He also contributes across many aspects of the program, including recruiting, player mentorship, and game-day operations. Rubayo brings energy, professionalism, and a team-first mentality to everything he does, making him a valuable asset to the Garnet coaching staff.