LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball put the go-ahead run on base in the ninth but were unable to capitalize, falling 2-1 against Franklin & Marshall College on Monday evening at Penn Medicine Park.
With the loss, Ursinus dropped its fourth straight game and fell to 17-13 on the season and 4-6 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Diplomats improved to 18-14 overall and 4-6 in conference action. The Bears' offense was led by senior
Andrew Richter, who went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to seven games.
On the mound, first-year pitcher
Chase Martin (2-1) suffered the loss, pitching five innings while allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Junior
Max Shilstone and sophomore
Barritt Ross combined for three scoreless in relief, scattering a hit and striking out three.
The Bears put a runner in scoring position in the first inning as Richter earned a two-out single and stole second base. However, he was stranded as a strikeout ended the frame and scoring opportunity. Martin cruised through his first inning of work, stranding a runner in scoring position via a strikeout. The Diplomats both of their runs in the second inning behind two hits and a walk to grab the early lead. A single to left field drove in the first run and a sacrifice fly plated the eventual game-winner.
In the top of the fourth inning, Ursinus threatened by putting two runners in scoring position with two outs. Senior
Jordan Williams led off with a single and advanced to third when classmate
Jude Gilhool reached on an error. However, with two outs and two on, a strikeout ended the opportunity. Over the next two innings, Martin stranded four runner on base to keep the Bears deficit at 2-0.
Ursinus got on the board in the sixth inning, scoring a run to cut their deficit to 2-1. Sophomore
Brandon Sullivan extended his on-base streak with a leadoff single. After a fielder's choice, Richter added his second hit of the day, putting two runners aboard. Gilhool followed with an RBI single to right field, scoring Williams to make the score 2-1. In the bottom of the sixth, Franklin & Marshall put a runner on third with just one out, but Shilstone escaped the jam with back-to-back flyouts. The Bears recorded hits in each of the final three innings but were unable to bring home the tying run, falling 2-1.
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, April 15th as they travel to Haverford, Pennsylvania for a Centennial Conference matchup against Haverford College at 3:30 p.m.
