COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – In a pitcher's duel, the Ursinus College baseball team fell, 3-2, to Muhlenberg College on Friday afternoon at Thomas Field.
 
With the loss, Ursinus falls to 21-15-1 overall and 8-8 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Mules improve to 11-22 overall and 6-10 in conference action. Ursinus is currently tied for fourth in the conference standings with Gettysburg College (8-8) and Swarthmore College (8-8).
 
Sophomore Matthew Callahan paced the Bears' offense, finishing 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored. Junior Brandon Sullivan added two hits and an RBI, while sophomores Devin Fogg and Isaac Gesford each recorded a hit.
 
Sophomore Chase Martin made the start on the mound for Ursinus, pitching five innings and allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out two. Senior Max Shilstone recorded the final four outs and allowed just one hit.
 
Muhlenberg threatened in the top of the first inning, putting two runners on via free passes, but Martin settled in and recorded a flyout and groundout to strand a runner in scoring position. Callahan singled with one out in the bottom half, but consecutive flyouts ended the inning.
 
In the bottom of the second, Gesford reached on a hit by pitch, while Fogg singled with one out. Both runners moved into scoring position on a passed ball, but a strikeout and ground out stranded them.
 
Muhlenberg scored the game's first run in the fourth, capitalizing on a pair of singles, while a balk by Martin allowed the run to cross. Ursinus stranded the insurance run on third as consecutive ground outs to senior Kyle Rosenfeld at second ended the inning.
 
The Mules put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, but Martin closed out his outing by inducing an infield pop up and a weak ground ball to keep the deficit at one.
 
Ursinus answered in the bottom of the sixth, scoring the tying run with two outs to even the score at 1-1. Callahan singled to right field and stole second with one out. After a strikeout threatened the rally, Gesford delivered an RBI single to left, allowing Callahan to score from second.
 
The Bears took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh as Sullivan delivered an RBI single to left, scoring Fogg from second. Fogg reached on a leadoff hit and stole second with one out.
 
However, in the top of the eighth, Muhlenberg's Steven Dimovski hit a two-run home run to right field, just inside the foul pole, to give the Mules a 3-2 advantage. Ursinus nearly tied the game in the bottom half, but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the threat.
 
In the Bears' final at-bat, Rosenfeld and Sullivan each singled to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. However, a 6-4-3 double play ended the game.
 
Ursinus returns to action on Sunday, April 26, for a doubleheader at No. 9 Johns Hopkins in their regular-season finale.