LANCASTER, Pa. – A pair of late rallies both came up just short as the Ursinus College baseball team opened the 2021 campaign with two tight setbacks at the hands of Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats took the opener, 4-2, before staving off a furious Bears charge for a 6-5 triumph in the nightcap.
Game 1
The Bears started their season in a bit of a hole, stranding the bases loaded in their first at-bat before surrendering three runs in the bottom half of the opening frame. The first four Diplomats reached base, and an error helped one of the home side's three runs across.
Despite the early rockiness, Nolan Graber settled in nicely. The senior right-hander set down nine F&M batters consecutively before a one-out single in the fifth. The Bears' offense struggled with Diplomats southpaw Matt Devlin, but managed to get on the board in the second as Dan Icaza singled with two outs and hustled home on Will Peiffer's double.
The Diplomats put men on the corners with two outs in their half of the fifth, but Casey Fitzsimmons came on to neutralize the threat with a strikeout swinging. The lefty wiggled out of another jam in the seventh, picking off a base-runner with runners on the corners to end the inning.
Ursinus got the bats going in the eighth, pulling to within an RBI single by Connor Barrett, which also put Bears on first and second with one out. But the lead runner was picked off at second, and pinch-hitter Nick Diaz flied out to end the rally.
F&M got the run right back, loading the bases with one out before reliever Nick DeFeo hit the next man with an off-speed pitch to force in a run. DeFeo rebounded to induce an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play, but a two-out double by Peiffer led nowhere in the top of the ninth as the Diplomats held on.
Peiffer finished 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while Eric Gross and Icaza each had two base hits. Fitzsimmons struck out four and allowed just one hit in 2.2 relief frames.
Game 2
Peiffer's bat stayed hot in the nightcap, the big left-hander leading off the contest with a shot over the fence in right-center to stake Ursinus to an early lead.
The gloves let the Bears down, though, with an error in each frame helping the hosts score two runs in both of the first two innings en route to seizing a 4-1 advantage. J.J. Freeman's two-run triple with one out pushed the lead to three before Brady Antolick struck out the next two batters to keep the margin there.
The Diplomats' lead eventually swelled to 6-1, but the Bears made things very interesting in the late stages. A leadoff single by Tom Snipes and a walk drawn by Dylan Crammer were the prelude to a huge eighth inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Peiffer and another by Tim Pyne that also featured a second run coming in to score on an error as the visitors drew within 6-5. Ursinus stranded the tying run on third, however, and went down 1-2-3 in the ninth as F&M sealed the sweep.
Peiffer finished the day 6-for-9 after going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the nightcap. He was the only Bear with multiple hits in game two.
Up Next
The Bears head to Washington College for a doubleheader next Saturday.