READING, Pa. – After falling victim to a dominant pitching performance in the opener of Sunday's doubleheader at Penn State Berks, the Ursinus College baseball team responded with one of its own.
Junior David Drea tossed seven strong innings and got plenty of early support from an offense that went silent in the first game to lead the Bears to a 7-1 victory in the nightcap. Ursinus (2-7) was on the wrong end of a no-hitter in the opener, a 7-0 shutout for the Nittany Lions.
Sophomore Dom Fiorentino drove in three runs in the second game for the Bears, who were playing on Pennsylvania soil for the first time this season.
Game 1: Penn State Berks 7, Ursinus 0
The Bears drew six walks – two apiece by junior Carter Usowski and senior Alex Soriano, but were unable to solve Berks' Tyler Comport, who struck out five in six hitless frames. Calen Reigner finished off the no-hitter for the Nittany Lions, who opened up a 3-0 lead in the first inning with four knocks of their own.
Berks tacked on three more in the third and another in the fourth. Ursinus had an opportunity in the third, putting its first two men on when freshman Tom Jacobs was hit by a pitch and Soriano drew a base on balls. But senior Travis Kozak struck out, and Jacobs was gunned down at third on the front end of a double steal to short-circuit the threat.
Freshman Casey Fitzsimmons threw two innings of scoreless relief, working around three walks and striking out one. The rookie has allowed just one hit and no runs in 6.1 frames to start his career.
Game 2: Ursinus 7, Penn State Berks 1
Ursinus wasted no time in registering its first hit of the afternoon, taking a 1-0 lead on Usowski's RBI single with no outs in the top of the first. The Bears had the bases loaded after that and failed to score, but Drea worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the bottom half.
Freshman Jerry Scavone led off the second with a base hit, stole second, and moved to third on Jacobs' single that packed the sacks with no outs again. After a pair of outs, Scavone scampered home on a passed ball to make it 2-0.
The Nittany Lions got on the board in the third, but Fiorentino's clutch two-out single plated Kozak for a 3-1 lead.
Ursinus broke it open with more two-out magic in the sixth. After their first two batters were retired, Usowski's infield hit sprung a big inning. Sophomore Alex Mumme and Fiorentino followed with back-to-back doubles to make it 5-1, and freshman Drew Fowler's RBI single added another run. Fiorentino's RBI fielder's choice in the seventh finished the scoring.
Drea struck out six and walked three in his second career complete game, limiting Berks to four singles.
Fiorentino finished 2-for-5 with three RBI, a run, and a stolen base, and Mumme was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Usowski went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run, and a steal, and Kozak scored two runs from the leadoff spot.
Up Next
The Bears complete their early-season run of ten consecutive road games at Lebanon Valley on Tuesday, March 20.