CARLISLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball team rode a pair of dominant pitching performances – and plenty of offense to support them – to a sweep of Sunday's Centennial Conference doubleheader at Dickinson.
Senior Seth Regensburg and junior Pierce Greenleaf were stellar on the mound, the former coming within one out of a complete-game shutout in a 10-1 opening victory before the latter conceded just one earned run of his own to fuel a 6-2 triumph in the nightcap as Ursinus (13-4, 2-0) matched last season's league win total in one fell swoop.
Five Bears registered multi-hit games in the opener, and senior Alex Campbell smacked a three-run homer on the way to a four-RBI effort in the back end of the twin bill.
The sweep ended a lengthy stretch of futility in Carlisle for the Bears, who had lost six in a row and seven of eight at Dickinson coming into the day. Last year, the Red Devils (13-10, 0-2) outscored Ursinus by a combined 20-3 on the same field.
At 13-4, the baseball team is off to its best start since 1996, when the Bears were 26-4 before finishing 28-9 and capturing their first of three CC championships.
Game 1: Ursinus 10, Dickinson 1
After striking out four times in the first two innings, the Bears got to Dickinson starter Cristian Acosta in the third, denting the scoreboard with an unearned run on freshman Dom Fiorentino's two-out RBI single.
Senior Greg Petorak bounced an RBI groundout to short in the top of the fourth to plate classmate Austin Kurey, who had singled and moved to third after a base hit by sophomore Carter Usowski.
Ursinus broke it open with three two-out runs in the fifth, which started with a leadoff double to right by Fiorentino. With runners on the corners and one out, Fiorentino dashed home when the Red Devils threw down to second to attempt a strike 'em out, throw em' out double play.
Walks to Usowski and freshman Brian Varani loaded the bases, and Acosta was replaced after plunking senior Vincent Terry to force in a run. Usowski scored on a wild pitch one batter later, expanding the Bears' lead to 5-0.
Senior C.J. Diana opened the seventh with a single and sprinted home on Kurey's double to the gap in right-center. Two batters later, Varani brought home Kurey with a single and his first career RBI. Senior Vincent Terry followed with a single, took third on a base knock to right by senior Kieran Geyer, and was able to slide home safely with Ursinus' eighth run when the Red Devils botched a run-down after Varani was gunned down at the plate.
Diana ripped an RBI double in the eighth and came around on Usowski's single to cap the Bears' offensive outburst.
Regensburg (3-1) wound up one out short of a complete-game shutout, surrendering an RBI single to Stephen Sakowicz before being replaced by Matt Radwanski for the final out. Regensburg scattered six hits, walked four, and matched a career high with 11 strikeouts in his fifth career outing with double-digit punch-outs. In the process, he moved into third in program history with 169 strikeouts.
Usowski finished 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Diana was 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored three times. Kurey (2-for-5, two runs, RBI), Terry (2-for-4, two runs, RBI), and Fiorentino (2-for-5, run, RBI) all had at least two hits.
Game 2: Ursinus 6, Dickinson 2
Campbell's three-run blast got the Bears' sweeping plans off to a perfect start, staking the visitors to a 3-0 lead in the first.
Greenleaf was on point from the first pitch, taking a perfect game into the fourth and allowing only one hit before the fifth, when he escaped a jam with runners on second and third and only one out.
Dickinson got on the board with a single run in the sixth, but Ursinus answered right back as Usowski doubled to open the seventh and scored on Fiorentino's RBI single. The Red Devils got one back once more in the seventh to slice the lead to 4-2.
The Bears tacked on some insurance in the eighth, courtesy of back-to-back doubles by Kurey and Campbell. Armed with a 6-2 lead, senior Lou Aikins held Dickinson scoreless over the final two frames to seal the sweep.
Campbell finished 2-for-4 with his third homer of the year and a season-high four RBI, and Kurey posted the same numbers he did in the opener – 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.
Greenleaf improved to 4-0 with another dynamic performance, conceding two runs (one earned) on six hits; he walked one and struck out a pair.
Up Next
The Bears open a home-and-home doubleheader at Haverford on Tuesday, April 4.