COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Ursinus dropped the first of a two-game series with Franklin & Marshall on Tuesday afternoon by a 5-4 score. The Bears stranded 15 runners on base, and left the bases loaded twice in the loss to fall to 6-13 and 2-5 in the Centennial Conference.

Despite the loss, the Bears had ten hits as five players picked up two hits each. For Franklin & Marshall (13-11, 5-2 Centennial), third baseman Kevin Shields had a game-high two hits and two RBI.

F&M struck early, scoring two runs in the top of the first as Shields and right fielder Mike Amabile had RBI hits. In the bottom of the first, Ursinus got on the board as junior centerfielder Ben Gresh (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove) had a RBI single to left scoring senior third baseman Rob Vogt (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Hill School).

The Bears tied the score at 2-all in the third as freshman designated hitter Josh Schnell (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Vogt with two outs.

F&M got two back in the fifth as center fielder Eric Bornstein and Shields had run scoring hits to take a 4-2 lead. Ursinus got one back in the sixth as junior first baseman Rich Guthridge (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) scored on a sacrifice by junior right fielder Garrett Smith (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesse) for a  4-3 deficit.

In the seventh, F&M tacked on what turned out to be an insurance run as pinch hitter Connor Devlin had a RBI single that scored Bornstein with two outs.

Ursinus got one run in the bottom of the ninth as senior left fielder Danny Ludwig (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) hit into a fielder's choice that scored Gresh with two outs, but, Ursinus could not score another run.

Vogt, Gresh, Guthridge, Smith and freshman designated hitter Ralph Aurora (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro) had two hits each.

On the mound, junior pitcher Nate Schnell (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) took the loss, falling to 0-2. He went six innings, striking out three and walking two. For F&M, Mike Duranti got the win as he went six innings, allowing three runs. He improved to 3-2. Brendan McCreary faced two batters to pick up his second save of the season.

The two teams resume their series in Lancaster on Friday, weather permitting.