Bears Overwhelm Garnet
The Ursinus College baseball team collected 16 base hits, posting runs in six different innings to claim an 11-4 victory over Swarthmore on Tuesday afternoon in Centennial Conference action in Collegeville, Pa.
The Garnet jumped on Bears starting pitcher Clay Miller in the first with consecutive singles by Scott Young '06 and Jody Fisher '05. Ian Adelstein '08 reached base on an error by the Ursinus rightfielder, loading the bases for cleanup hitter Travis Allen '08. Miller induced Allen into a ground-ball double play, allowing Young to cross the plate with the first run of the game. Miller escaped without further damage, retiring the next hitter, Swarthmore's Andy Bender '08, on a ground ball to shortstop.
Ursinus evened the score in the bottom of the inning, using two singles and two stolen bases to put runners in scoring position for Ryan Regensburg. Garnet ace Jared Leiderman '05 immediately set Regensburg down on strikes, his Centennial-leading 42nd strikeout of the season. Ted Piotrowicz, the next batter to the plate, lifted a fly ball to right field with enough depth to score Tommy Hermann, making it a 1-1 game.
The Bears added two more in the second and another run in the fourth, giving Miller a 4-1 lead. The floodgates opened up in the bottom of the fifth, as Ursinus put four more runs up on the board. Most of the damage occurred when Bret Jenkins ripped a two-run triple to right center. More runs came in the bottom of the sixth, as the Bear used two hits and a Garnet error to push their lead to 10-1. Swarthmore benefited from a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning on a high note.
The Garnet carried that momentum to the plate in the top of the seventh, smacking four hits to generate three runs. Second baseman Patrick Christmas '08 lined a one-out single to center and moved up to second on a balk by Miller. Noah Cooper-Harris '07 followed with a single to center, driving in Christmas to make it 10-2. Designated hitter Ben Mendelson '08 struck out for the second out, but centerfielder Scott Dalane '08 smoked a double to center, scoring Cooper-Harris. Dalane advanced to third on another balk by Miller and came around to score on Young's single to make it 10-3 Ursinus.
The Bears score one more time in the eight and Ryan Smith set Swarthmore down in order in the ninth, sending Ursinus (4-14-1, 2-1 CC) to their fourth win of the season.
Leiderman (1-5) went six innings for the Garnet (2-11, 0-3 CC) striking out one while walking two.
Dalane lead Swarthmore with a double, a single, an RBI, and run scored while teammate Young contributed two base hits, a run, and an RBI.
Miller (1-3) pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out eight.
Swarthmore looks to split the season series with Ursinus on April 8th when the Bears come to Clothier Fields for a 3:30 p.m. game.