BALTIMORE, Md. – The Ursinus College baseball team kept its season alive with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Gettysburg in the loser's bracket of the Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday morning.
Freshman Alex Mumme hit two home runs, including the game-tying two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, and senior Greg Petorak delivered the go-ahead two-run double as part of a four-run eighth inning that propelled the Bears (24-15) to a 10-7 triumph. Senior Vincent Terry finished with three hits and three RBI in Ursinus' first playoff win since 2009.
Ursinus will take on the loser of the winner's bracket contest between fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins and Haverford, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.
The Bears built a big lead early, let it all slip away in the middle innings, and got back on the top end of the seesaw with an eighth-inning jolt that ultimately saved their season. Before the game-breaking rally, Mumme delivered the biggest hit of the season, crushing a hanger from Gettysburg starter Chase Stopyra – the CC's leader in ERA –well over the left-field fence with two outs in the seventh for a two-run home run that tied the game at 6.
Mumme, who hit a solo shot in the third to hand Ursinus a 4-0 lead, became the first Bear – and only the seventh player in CC Tournament history – with two home runs in a playoff game.
Sophomore David Drea made the Bears' comeback possible by pitching out of two big jams. The Bullets had first and second with no outs in the seventh before the southpaw made a brilliant play on a dribbler down the first-base line by Connor Tom; Drea sprinted off the mound, fielded the ball, spun, and delivered a strike to senior Austin Kurey for the first out. Drea got JJ Lucido to hit a comebacker to the mound, then retired Banks Northington on a ground ball to second.
Gettysburg put two on with two outs in the eighth, but Drea quelled the rally with a groundout.
Senior Alex Campbell, who made a nice play to end the eighth, opened the bottom half with a well-placed doubled down the right-field line and moved to third on Kurey's bunt single. After senior Kieran Geyer was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Petorak was afforded a second chance when the Bullets catcher misplayed a pop-up behind home plate. Given new life, Petorak hammered a 2-2 pitch into the left-field corner to score Campbell and Kurey with the go-ahead runs.
Terry laced a run-scoring single into right-center, and junior Travis Kozak's bunt plated senior pinch-runner Jake Banks with a 10-6 Ursinus lead. Drea gave up a run in the ninth, but Mumme gunned down Northington at second after an RBI single to preserve the Bears' come-from-behind win.
Lucido and Chuck Probst each homered in a three-run fourth for the Bullets, who took the lead with three more markers in the fifth. Tom's RBI single gave the Orange and Blue its first advantage, and Lucido tacked on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4.
Terry finished 3-for-4 with three RBI – two of them on a double in the second – to lead the Ursinus attack. Mumme scored twice and drove in three runs, Geyer was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, and Campbell joined the 50-hit club with a pair of knocks. Campbell, Kozak, and sophomore Carter Usowski have all reached 50 hits this season, the first time in program history that three players have done so in the same campaign.
Drea (3-2) earned the win with three stellar innings of relief, while junior Matt Radwanski played the swingman role admirably for the second straight playoff game with five crucial outs after classmate Pierce Greenleaf was lifted following a 4.1-inning start.