SWARTHMORE, Pa. – With the Bears needing every game possible to fall their way to make the Centennial Conference playoffs, Ursinus rallied from a four-run deficit in the ninth to tie the score at 7-all.
Swarthmore, however, scored one run in the bottom of the 11th in an 8-7 win for the Garnet in CC baseball play over the Bears in the start of their two-game series at Clothier Field.
Ursinus (14-15, 6-9 Centennial) trailed 7-3 going into the ninth inning, when junior hitter James Hoff doubled to start things off, then advanced to third on an error on a ball hit by freshman catcher/pinch hitter Vincent Terry. A sacrifice fly by Greg Petorak scored Hoff to cut the deficit to 7-4.
After senior Ralph Aurora was hit by pitch, Ursinus had first and second with one out. Following a strikeout, freshman Austin Feuerman doubled to right scoring Perez to make the score 7-5.
Sophomore Chris Jablonski tied the score with a two-run double, followed by a single from freshman Jose Colon. The Bears rally ended with a strikeout.
In the ninth, the Bears held on by getting a runner thrown out a home and a deep fly to left with two outs to keep the Garnet off the board. The Bears, however, would go hitless in the extra frames, while Swarthmore forced in the winning run on a two-out RBI single in the 11th.
Feuerman led the way with three hits, while Aurora and Jablonski each had two hits. Jablonski had three RBI. Freshman catcher Avery Perez had two hits as well.
On the mound, senior Chris Ryder took the loss in relief, as he only allowed four hits in 3.1 innings and walked three. Junior Alex Manacher started the game, going two innings before senior Steve Berardi went 5.1 innings in relief. He struck out three and walked one.
The two teams will finish their series on Friday, but, Ursinus will take on Arcadia on Wednesday in Philly.