COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball team was held to two hits as Haverford downed the Bears, 5-1, in Centennial Conference action at Thomas Field.
In the opening inning, junior Carter Usowski smacked a double to right center field that glanced off of the leaping center fielder's glove, plating sophomore Alex Mumme for the lone run of the game for the Bears (5-11, 0-3). Usowski's RBI knotted the game at 1-1 and continued his five-game RBI streak, knocking in a total of 11 runs in that stretch.
The Fords (10-11, 3-0) scored in the top of the first on a Bear miscue and benefitted from six Ursinus errors in the game. Senior Pierce Greenleaf (1-2) was solid for the Bears as he threw six innings yielding four runs (two earned) on nine hits to go along with two strikeouts and two walks.
Haverford pitcher Luke Duris (2-2) held the Bears scoreless after the first inning and to no hits after the second inning. Duris earned the win as he cruised through seven innings while giving up just a first-inning unearned run, two hits and three walks overall. Duris fanned four Ursinus hitters.
Relief pitcher Andrew Johnson picked up where Duris left off to close the game with two no-hit innings.
The Fords plated two runs in the third inning and didn't look back after that. After the Bears had trouble seeing a fly ball in the sun in left field, the Fords had a runner on second base. Then, a wicked hop on a grounder to third base set up first and third for the Fords. Matt Goss singled to right to put Haverford up 2-1. Later on in the inning, a fielder's choice grounder to second knocked in another Fords run.
Haverford tacked on a run each in the fifth and seventh to gain a four-run edge. The Fords recorded 11 hits on the day. Ethan Lee-Tyson led with three hits. Matt Goss and Ben Somorjai each had multi-hit games with a run batted in.
The Bears did work the pitcher throughout the game, reaching base four times on free passes. Ursinus freshman Tom Jacobs reached on an infield single to record the Bears' other hit.
The Bears travel to Haverford tomorrow to complete the home-and-home series at 3:30 p.m.