HAVERFORD, Pa. – David Drea's dominance, timely defense, and a two-man batting attack combined to power the Ursinus College baseball team to a 2-0 shutout at Haverford on Friday, the Bears' first Centennial Conference win of the season.
Drea tossed a five-hitter for his first career nine-inning shutout - and third career complete game - to continue his multi-year mastery of the Fords and help Ursinus (6-11, 1-3) bounce back from a 5-1 loss just 24 hours prior. The left-hander worked the zone to perfection, walking just one batter and relying on his defense to make the plays behind him. Unlike Thursday, when the Bears made six errors, it did.
Freshman Tom Jacobs made two critical plays from his catcher spot in the late stages, including throwing out the potential tying run at third base to end the seventh inning.
Sophomores Mike Stanziale and Alex Mumme provided all the offense Ursinus needed, combining for five of the team's six hits on the afternoon. Stanziale was 3-for-4 with the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth and Mumme provided some critical insurance with a homer to lead off the eighth.
Drea exchanged one easy inning after another with Haverford's Nathan Bass, who matched the southpaw zero for zero until the Bears broke the deadlock in the sixth. Mumme led off with a line drive to the gap in left-center field and went to third on junior Carter Usowski's sacrifice. Stanziale then punched a 3-2 pitch up the middle, plating Mumme with the game's first run.
Stanziale's clutch knock was the only hit of the day with a runner on for either side, as the teams combined to go 1-for-26 in such situations.
A defense that committed six errors in Thursday's game came up huge for the Bears as the game wore on. With one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the sixth, Jacobs made a diving catch at the screen to retire Spencer Sohmer, and Drea got out of the jam when Michael Schwarze to line out to shortstop.
In the seventh, the Fords put runners on the corners, but Drea and Jacobs sniffed out a double steal as Mumme ran down Furlong for the last out.
Haverford brought in Justin Herring to pitch the eighth, and Mumme quickly greeted the new reliever with a solo shot to left field on the first pitch he saw. The home run was Mumme's fifth of the season and the ninth of his career.
Drea allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth but got Matt Goss to bounce out to first base on his 96th pitch. He walked one and struck out two, throwing two-thirds of his tosses for strikes and holding a Haverford offense that leads the CC in home runs to just one extra-base hit.
Drea was strong against the Fords a year ago as well, pitching 6.1 scoreless frames in a 6-4 CC playoff elimination game and earning the win with five effective innings in the regular-season contest at Kannerstein Field.
Freshman Jerry Scavone had the other hit for the Bears, who turned inning-ending double plays in the fifth and eighth.
The Bears play host to McDaniel for a CC doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m., with fans encouraged to wear white as part of a Division III Week Whiteout promotion.