COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball team dropped a 24-9 Centennial Conference contest against Franklin & Marshall on Sunday afternoon from Thomas Field.
 

The Diplomats added the first two runs of the contest during their opening frame as an RBI double and wild pitch gave F&M an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, junior Peter Balos led off with a single before advancing into scoring position on a failed pickoff attempt. Balos advanced to third on a groundout and flyout, but the Bears rally was cut short as a flyout ended the frame and stranded a runner in scoring position.

 
The Diplomats added four runs in the third inning as back-to-back homeruns extended the Bears deficit to 6-0. Ursinus bounced back in the bottom half of the frame as a three-run homerun from junior Andrew Richter cut the Bears deficit in half. Sophomore George Nestor opened the inning by reaching second base on a Franklin & Marshall defensive error. Later, Nestor advanced to third on a groundout while junior Jakob Cantor reached on a hit-by-pitch. With two outs and two runners on, Richter jumped on a 0-1 pitch and drove it out to right centerfield for his second homerun of the season.

 
During the top of the fourth, Franklin & Marshall received a one-out single, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the Diplomats at-bat and kept the Bears deficit at 6-3. Each team added a run in the fifth inning, while the Diplomats extended their lead to 12-4 behind a five-run sixth frame. F&M capitalized off three free passes, before back-to-back homers increased the Bears deficit to eight. In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Balos and sophomore Shane Beaver each entered scoring position via a walk and double. Unfortunately, the Bears threat to score was denied as a flyout to centerfield ended the threat. Franklin & Marshall exploded for 12 runs in the seventh inning, extending their lead to 24-4, before Ursinus added five runs during the frame to land on the final tally of 24-9.

 
At the plate, Richter continued his hot-stretch finishing 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs, while sophomore George Nestor and first-year Nick Covis each added a base hit and an RBI. For Richter, it is his sixth consecutive game with a base hit and third straight contest with a multi-hit performance. He currently is hitting .315 on the season and has collected seven RBIs over his last four starts.
 

The Bears return to action on Monday as they host DeSales University for a non-conference matchup starting at 3:30 p.m. from Thomas Field.