SWARTHMORE, Pa. – First-place Swarthmore scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Ursinus baseball team, 13-12, despite seven Bear hitters recording multi-hit games.
The Bears (9-14-1, 4-6-1) held a 12-10 lead heading into the last frame. Swarthmore (22-7, 9-2), an offensive juggernaut that leads the CC in several hitting categories, loaded the bases with nobody out and AJ Liu singled home two runs to tie it 12-12. Holden Bridge, who came on as a sub late in the game, knocked a single to center field to plate the walk-off run.
Offense was plentiful on a chilly afternoon on the Main Line. Ursinus collected 16 hits, a parade led by senior Travis Kozak who went 3-for-6 with three runs. Freshman Jerry Scavone delivered three RBI on a 2-for-5 day, and sophomore Dom Fiorentino continued his hot stretch as he hit a homer and registered his 11th double of the season; Fiorentino drove in two RBI and went 2-for-4. Sophomore Mike Stanziale went 2-for-5 with two RBI, Junior Carter Usowski registered a 2-for-5 day to go along with two runs and a run batted in, and Freshmen Tom Jacobs and Eric Gross had two hits each.
Bridge's walk-off knock marked the Garnet's 17th hit. Five of those hits were home runs, three of which came within the first seven batters of the game. Swarthmore's Jackson Roberts became the 12th player in CC history to hit three round-trippers in a game, while Charlie Levitt and Coleson Hebble also homered for Swarthmore.
In a frenzy of a game, Ursinus found itself down 7-5 in the sixth, but the Bears scored six runs as they sent 12 batters to the plate while collecting five hits in the frame. Junior pinch-hitter Drew Roesch drew a leadoff walk, and Kozak got a base knock. Two wild pitches led to Roesch crossing home to get within a run, 7-6.
Sophomore Alex Mumme walked before Usowski greeted Swarthmore's new pitcher with a game-tying RBI single. The Bears regained their first lead since the first inning when Stanziale's infield single scored Mumme. Scavone then delivered a huge double to left, scoring both Stanziale and Usowski to extend the lead to 10-7. Gross singled, plating Scavone to give the Bears a four-run lead.
Swarthmore responded with a bases-clearing double to chip Ursinus' lead to 11-10 in the bottom of the sixth. The Garnet were still threatening with nobody out, and the Bears called on junior Mark LeDuc to get out of a jam. Ursinus intentionally walked Roberts, who blasted home runs in each of his first three at-bats. LeDuc put out the flames on another Garnet scoring opportunity for the time being as he forced Connor Elliott to bounce into a double play of the 3-6-3 variety.
The Bears tacked a run in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Stanziale, scoring Kozak who reached on a lead-off error.
Early on in the game, both teams responded with jabs back and forth as they flip-flopped the lead several times. The Bears opened the first inning with two runs, but the dangerous Garnet lineup struck quickly as the lead-off hitter Liu reached on an Ursinus error before CC home run-leader Levitt homered to right to tie the game 2-2. Two batters later, league batting average leader Roberts left the yard, giving the Garnet a 3-2 lead.
With two outs in the second, Jacobs scored off of a Mumme two-out RBI single to right, knotting the score 3-3. Coleson Hebble hit Swartmore's third home run in the first seven batters when he drove the ball over the tall left-field wall at Clothier Field in the second frame.
Fiorentino smacked a home run to right on a 1-2 count to tie the game, 4-4, in the third. Swarthmore's Roberts hit his second home run, giving the Garnet the 5-4 edge.
In the fourth, Swarthmore's Matt Palmer drew a two-out walk. Back-to-back singles plated Palmer to give the Garnet a 6-4 lead.
In the fifth, Fiorentino walked and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Scavone's single knocked in Fiorentino to get the Bears within a run, 6-5. Roberts homered for the third time in the bottom of the frame, increasing Swarthmore's lead to 7-5 before the Bears' big sixth inning.
Swarthmore's Jack Corkery (1-1) earned the win as he pitched a perfect ninth inning.
The Bears take on Penn State Brandywine in a home non-conference tilt on Wednesday at 4 p.m.