Baltimore, Md. – The Ursinus baseball team dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader at perennial power Johns Hopkins, 12-6 and 5-0.
The rematch of last year's Centennial Conference championship was a twin bill made up of a game of strong hitting and one of dominant pitching. Ursinus (9-18-1, 4-9-1) out hit the Blue Jays, 15-11, in the first game. In the second game, Johns Hopkins pitcher Nick Burns held the hot-hitting Bears contingent to just two hits and two walks on his way to a complete-game gem. Burns struck out nine batters.
Sophomore Alex Mumme was the only Bear to collect hits in each game. Mumme went 3-for-8 with a run on the day, extending his hitting streak to 12. Junior Carter Usowski homered for the third time this season in the first game.
The Blue Jays (22-11, 11-3), who are tied for first in the CC with Swarthmore, were led on the day by Frank Clara and Dillon Bowman. The duo combined to go 8-for-16 with three home runs, 12 runs batted in and seven runs.
Game 1: Johns Hopkins 12, Ursinus 6
Fifteen Ursinus hits were not enough to down Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays were led by Frank Clara, who went 4-for-4 with a pair of two-run home runs, four runs and five RBI.
The game marked the sixth straight with at least 14 hits for the Bears.
Freshman Eric Gross paced Ursinus with a 3-for-4 game that also included an RBI. Sophomore Mike Stanziale doubled twice and drove in two runs, and Usowski joined Stanziale with a two-RBI game.
Senior Travis Kozak got the offense kick-started in the first with a single to center. Mumme followed with a single to right. Usowski reached on a fielder's choice before Stanziale doubled home Kozak and Usowski to give the Bears an early 2-0 lead. Ursinus collected five hits in the frame.
Johns Hopkins responded with four runs in the bottom of the first. Three walks loaded the bases for the Blue Jays before Dillon Bowman's grand slam put the hosts up 4-2.
The Blue Jays used a hit by pitch and two doubles to plate two runs in the third, extending their lead to 6-2. Johns Hopkins got back on the board when Clara hit his first two-run homer of the game in the fifth. Two more Blue Jay runs crossed in the seventh.
Ursinus' bats simmered down after a hot first inning, going hitless until a Gross single in the fifth. It took until the eighth inning to strike again for scoring, when Four runs on six hits got the Bears within shouting distance.
The Bears jumped on reliever Jack Bunting. Mumme singled to center before Usowski's opposite field two-run home run. Sophomore Dom Fiorentino, freshman Jerry Scavone and freshman Tom Jacobs each singled to force a Blue Jay pitching change. With another pitcher in, sophomore Jake Supran walked, forcing in a run. Gross then collected an RBI single to center, getting the Bears within 10-6.
In the eighth, Johns Hopkins tacked on two runs when Clara went deep for the second time.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Preston Betz (4-0) went seven frames for the win, allowing two runs on nine hits, no walks and striking out two.
Game 2: Johns Hopkins 5, Ursinus 0
Johns Hopkins pitcher Burns had his way with Bears hitters on his way to a complete-game two-hitter with nine strikeouts.
Burns didn't allow a hit from the second to the seventh. Mumme's first-inning double and sophomore pinch hitter Kyle Supran's eighth-inning single were the only hits Burns gave up. Usowski and Mumme reached on walks in the fourth and sixth, respectively.
Ursinus starter Steve DiStefano (1-2) pitched well in defeat. DiStefano threw 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and no free passes and striking out out three.
Johns Hopkins scored the game's first run in the second, when Austin Sacks singled and stole second. Alex Darwiche singled to center and Frank Clara's sacrifice fly scored Sacks.
Darwiche's solo-homer in the seventh pushed the Blue Jay lead to 2-0.
The Blue Jays forced DiStefano out of the game after a lead-off walk and single in the eighth. Senior Pierce Greenleaf got the call from the bullpen but was greeted with back-to-back ground-rule doubles resulting in three more Johns Hopkins insurance runs. Junior Mark LeDuc came on to record the last two outs, striking out a batter.
Sacks and Darwiche each went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Blue Jays. Sacks scored two runs and Darwiche one. Bowman went 2-for-4 and plated two runs.
Up Next
The Bears host Muhlenberg Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.