AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Divergent offensive performances left the Ursinus College baseball team with a split of Monday's doubleheader against Saint Joseph's (Maine).
The Bears batted around in two separate innings in the opener, pounding out 14 hits en route to a 12-4 rout, but could muster only three knocks in a 9-0 Game Two loss to the Monks.
Senior Christopher Jablonski was one of five Bears to record multiple hits in Game One, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, three runs scored, and two RBI. Junior CJ Diana finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, while classmates Jay Farrell (2-for-4, 3 RBI), Jose Colon (2-for-4, 2 RBI), and Kieran Geyer (2-for-4, 3R) finished with two hits each. The Bears' 14 hits matched their highest total in a seven-inning game since a victory over Penn State-Berks almost two years ago.
Jablonski doubled with two outs in the first, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a single off the bat of Farrell to stake the Bears to an early lead. It was the third straight at-bat that ended in a run-scoring hit for Farrell, who needed only eight plate appearances to surpass last season's RBI total (two).
Ursinus got back to work in the second, sending ten men to the plate during a five-run outburst. The inning started with a walk and back-to-back singles by Geyer and Diana, who drove in freshman Carter Usowski with a grounder through the left side. Later in the frame, Jablonski walked to load the bases, and Farrell reached on a fielder's choice before Colon's two-run single up the middle swelled the advantage to 5-0.
While the Bears were taking advantage of their scoring opportunities, senior Vince Piccioni quelled several potential uprisings by the Monks, working out of bases-loaded jams in both the second and third. Saint Joseph's put two on with one out in the fourth before Piccioni wriggled out of it, bringing the total to eight left on base in the first four frames.
The Monks finally got to Piccioni in the fifth, wrapping two singles around his seventh walk to chase the senior from the game. Sophomore Matt Radwanski came on and set down the first two he faced, one of them on run-scoring groundout, before Jameson Collins singled to right center to slice the Ursinus lead to 5-3. Radwanski fanned the next batter with runners on the corners, the fourth Saint Joseph's at-bat that ended with multiple men left on base.
Ursinus came right back with six more in the bottom half, using three straight hits from Usowski, Geyer, and Diana to jump-start another crooked number; Diana beat out a bunt for his second RBI single of the day. Muro drew a bases-loaded walk, and Jablonski welcomed new pitcher Patrick Martin with a two-run double, his second two-bagger of the morning. Farrell followed with a two-run single, extending the bulge to 11-3.
Piccioni (1-0) walked seven and struck out two, surrendering three earned runs over his four-plus innings. Radwanski tossed three innings, allowing one unearned run and three hits while striking out one.
The Monks went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base, while Ursinus was a sizzling 8-of-17 with men in scoring position.
After the morning mashing, the Bears' bats went into hibernation in the afternoon session as they managed only three hits in a 7-0 setback. Grayson Jennings held Ursinus hitless until the fourth, when Jablonski singled and reached second on a wild pitch, and the Monk hurler left him there with a pair of strikeouts.
With Jennings making an early 1-0 lead hold up, Saint Joseph's put three on the board in the fourth and fifth innings to break the game open.
Junior Lou Aikins pitched well until the fourth, ultimately surrendering seven runs (six earned) on nine hits before giving way to senior William DiCiurcio after surrendering a two-run homer to James Collins with two outs in the fifth.
Junior Greg Petorak recorded his first double of the season in the sixth.
The Bears continue their Florida trip with a pair against Northland on Tuesday.