GWYNEDD, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball team went positively batty in a non-conference slugfest at Gwynedd Mercy on Monday, piling up a season-high 20 hits in a 17-9 victory, the Bears' highest run total in three years.
Senior Greg Petorak was 3-for-4 with three doubles, two RBI, and two runs for Ursinus (17-5), which sent 14 men to the plate in a nine-run second on the way to scoring the most runs in a single game since a 25-14 win at Arcadia in 2014. Freshman Alex Mumme also went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in his first game in a month, and fellow rookie Mike Stanziale finished 2-for-4 with three runs and two RBI.
The Bears, who surpassed last season's overall win total with 16 games remaining in the regular season, pounded out seven doubles and a triple for the afternoon.
The first two batters offered a glimpse of the deluge to come, as junior Travis Kozak doubled and scored on freshman Dom Fiorentino's triple. Fiorentino came home on a passed ball to open up a 2-0 lead before the Griffins (12-10-1) responded with a two-run homer from Josh Lopez in their half.
The floodgates opened wide in the second, as senior Tyler Strano's leadoff walk fueled a nine-run haymaker. Stanziale reached on an error, and Kozak's single loaded the bases with one out. The Bears followed with six hits – including four doubles – over the next seven batters.
Mumme plated a pair with a two-bagger, and Petorak brought Mumme home with one of his three on the day. After a strikeout, Strano and Stanziale doubled consecutively to bring in two more runs. An error preceded the ninth run of the inning.
Dave Tatoian hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second to make it 11-4, but an RBI single by Stanziale and a passed ball in the fourth allowed Ursinus to go up 13-4. Gwynedd Mercy got two back in the fourth, but Petorak scored senior CJ Diana with an RBI double and classmate Jake Banks produced a run-scoring groundout to stretch the lead to 15-6.
Senior Tom Carey and Strano each had an RBI single in a two-run ninth for the Bears, and Evan Miller's two-run home run capped the scoring in the bottom half.
Carey finished 2-for-2, giving him five hits in his last three games.
Senior Billie Buckwalter (2-0) earned the win with four solid innings of relief. He gave up two runs on three hits, striking out three and walking one. Senior Brandon Weidenfeld threw two scoreless frames, and sophomore Matt Rapp closed the door with a scoreless ninth.
The baseball team opens a home-and-home series with Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday, April 12, at Thomas Field. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.