From worst to first.
That's the opportunity that awaits the Ursinus College baseball team as it prepares to open its first Centennial Conference playoff journey in six years on Thursday. The Bears, last in the CC a season ago, are the number three seed for the championship tournament and will travel to second-seeded and defending champion Haverford for a 3 p.m. first pitch; Johns Hopkins, the regular-season champion, hosts four seed Gettysburg. The rest of the championship will relocate to Baltimore on Saturday and Sunday.
The Bears have scripted a remarkable redemption story, morphing from cellar dweller to title contender behind a veteran core and a sprinkling of young talent. The postseason might have seemed a pipe dream after last season, when Ursinus lost its final 12 games to finish 2-16 in the conference. But the talent for a turnaround was there and the Bears have realized much of that potential, though their sights are set higher still.
The Matchup
The Bears (23-14) split their regular-season meetings with Haverford, each team winning on the other's field. Ursinus rapped out 16 hits – four of them by senior CJ Diana, who registered the 100th of his career – and jumped out to a 7-0 lead en route to a 12-6 victory at Kannerstein Field back on April 5. Diana finished 4-for-5 with four RBI to lead the Bears, while freshman Dom Fiorentino (3-for-5, two runs), junior Travis Kozak (2-for-4, three runs), senior Austin Kurey (2-for-6, two-run homer), and senior Kieran Geyer (2-for-3, three runs) all had big days at the plate.
Four days later, the Fords (19-14-1) exacted revenge with a 6-3 defeat of the Bears at Thomas Field. Ben Furlong and Matt Goss homered for the visitors, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to escape with a hard-fought triumph.
Series History
Ursinus leads the all-time series, 89-60-1, though the Fords have won eight of the past ten meetings. Haverford is 2-1 against the Bears in the CC playoffs, the most recent a 13-2 victory in 2011.
Scouting Haverford
Haverford has won three of the last five CC crowns and is making its 10th consecutive playoff appearance, but the defending champs needed a late push just to make the field. The Fords played their best baseball when it mattered most, capturing four of their last five league games and sweeping Saturday's doubleheader at Gettysburg to jump all the way up to the two seed.
Thanks to its closing stretch, Haverford gets to open the playoffs in the comfort of its home field. The Fords finished 7-4-1 at Kannerstein Field during the regular season, including a 5-4-1 mark in conference competition.
Haverford boasts one of the better offenses in the CC, a dangerous combination of power and speed. The Fords have slugged 34 home runs this season – including eight apiece from Ethan Lee-Tyson and Furlong – to rank second in the league, with five players smacking at least four. Lee-Tyson is enjoying a monster season, topping the CC in home runs and slugging (.695) while ranking second in runs (41), on-base percentage (.503), and stolen bases (18), third in batting average (.405), and eighth in RBI (32).
Furlong leads the team with 33 RBI and is one of five Fords with at least 12 stolen bases, joining Lee-Tyson, Spencer Sohmer (18), Will Karp (13), and Harrison Burns (12). Haverford has more steals than any team in the conference (109), with a success rate of 86.5 percent.
Sam Partee (.363, 6 HR, 33 RBI), Ben Verducci (.333, 1 HR, 14 RBI), and Burns (.330, 11 RBI) give Haverford four players batting at least .330. Goss hits .288 with five home runs, while Sohmer stands at .287 with 32 RBI and has yet to be caught stealing.
The Fords' pitching, usually one of the premier commodities in the CC, moved back to the pack this season with a 4.74 team ERA that ranks seventh in the conference. Jared Deveau (3-3, 2.48 ERA) and Brandon Jenkins (3-0, 2.79 ERA) have been Haverford's top arms, but the Bears are likely to see Tom Phillips, who is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in seven starts. Phillips last appeared on April 26, when he held Swarthmore to two runs on four hits in 7.2 strong innings.
Verducci (1-1, 2.40 ERA) is part of a stable of capable relievers, which also includes Anthony Rizzo (1-0, 3.06 ERA), Daniel Joffe (3.68 ERA), and Patrick O'Shea (2-1, 4.42 ERA).
Scouting the Bears
Ursinus started the season 16-4 overall and 5-0 in the CC before hitting a rough patch down the stretch. Prior to their 13-5 victory over Washington College in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Bears dropped six of seven games to take control of their playoff destiny out of their hands. But following the rout of the Shoremen, Muhlenberg outlasted F&M, 18-16, to punch Ursinus' ticket.
The Bears present a major threat to Haverford – and the rest of the field – with a bonafide ace and a relentless offense that leads the CC in average (.319) and ranks second in extra-base hits (118).
Six Ursinus starters are hitting at least .320, led by freshman Alex Mumme and his .407 average. Mumme has 23 RBI in just 25 games and has already broken the single-season school record with 17 doubles. Sophomore Carter Usowski is having a breakout campaign, hitting .383 with 13 doubles and 32 RBI; he is already the first Bear since 2012 to record 50 hits in a season, and Kozak (.356, 35 runs, 14 RBI) and senior Alex Campbell (.364, 4 HR, 30 RBI) are just two away from becoming the first three Ursinus teammates to reach 50 in the same season.
Diana (.320, 27 runs, 14 RBI) and Kurey (.317, 3 HR, 22 RBI) have each reached the 100-hit milestone this season.
In addition to Mumme, fellow rookie Fiorentino has hit .271 with 18 RBI and has added superb defense to the Bears' outfield. Defense and base-running have been key ingredients to the squad's success – Ursinus is tied with Johns Hopkins for the CC lead with a .961 fielding percentage and has hit into a league-low 18 double plays.
Ace in the Hole
Senior Seth Regensburg has cemented his stature as one of the region's top pitchers, having secured career highs in wins (7), innings (62.0), and ERA (2.90). One of three pitchers in school history with 200 career strikeouts, the southpaw is 2.2 innings away from the 200 mark. Regensburg could be the perfect antidote to Haverford's long ball penchant – he has allowed only one home run this season, and just six in his career.
Road Warriors
Losing the first game of Saturday's twin bill cost the Bears a home game, but that may be a blessing in disguise. Ursinus was just 5-7 overall and 3-6 in conference home games this season, but finished 7-3 in CC road contests and was 18-7 away from Thomas Field.
Milestone Watch
Campbell is four hits away from 100 for his career.
Playoff History
Ursinus won all three of its CC titles (1996, 1999, 2000) before the playoffs went to a tournament format in 2002; the postseason took on its current round-robin form in 2007. The Bears are 4-10 all-time in the Centennial tournament, with their only championship series appearance coming in 2007.
The Others
Johns Hopkins, ranked 6th in Division III, enters the tournament at 33-6 overall and has won 16 straight games. The Blue Jays, whose last loss came on April 8, swept the regular-season series from Gettysburg and went 6-0 against this year's playoff field. Ursinus split its series with the Bullets.
The Schedule
The losers of Thursday's games will play an elimination game at 9 a.m. Saturday, while the winners will meet at 12:30 p.m. The winner of that game advances to Sunday's championship series, and the loser takes on the winner of Saturday morning's contest for a spot in the championship.
Thursday Links
Saturday/Sunday Links