CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Ursinus College baseball team forced extra innings on Tuesday but eventually fell, 2-1, in 10 innings to Muhlenberg College at Weiland Park.
With the loss, Ursinus dropped to 18-18 on the season and 4-11 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Mules improved to 17-19 overall and 6-9 in the conference. It marked the sixth straight one-run contest between the two teams, with three of those six games reaching extra innings.
Sophomore
Brandon Sullivan and first-year
Devin Fogg led the offense, each finishing with two hits. Fogg added the Bears' lone RBI. Ursinus received a strong start on the mound from senior
Kieran Hollander, who pitched seven shutout innings, scattered five hits, and struck out two. It was his fourth appearance this season pitching at least five innings without allowing an earned run.
Hollander issued a leadoff walk in the first but induced a 6-4-3 double play and a flyout to end the frame. In the top of the second, junior
Mitchell Garber and Fogg each recorded hits, but a lineout stranded both runners to end the scoring chance. In the third, Sullivan opened the inning with a double to left-center, and senior
Jakob Cantor was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out. However, a flyout and a lineout ended the rally and kept the game scoreless.
Muhlenberg collected hits in the fourth and fifth innings, but Hollander induced double plays in both frames to maintain the shutout. Ursinus broke through in the sixth, scoring the game's first run on a two-out single. After two quick groundouts, sophomore
Marco Maiuolo was hit by a pitch, and senior
Jordan Williams singled to put runners on first and second. Fogg came through with an RBI single to center field, scoring Maiuolo from second. Hollander then worked through his final two innings, stranding a runner in each inning with timely fly outs to preserve the Bears' 1-0 lead.
The Mules tied the game in the eighth with a two-out RBI single. In the top of the ninth, Ursinus placed the go-ahead run on second, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat. Muhlenberg walked it off in the bottom of the 10th with a two-out single that scored a runner from third, handing the Bears a 2-1 defeat.
Ursinus returns to action on Thursday, April 22, when it hosts the University of Valley Forge at 4 p.m.
