GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College baseball team rallied from an early 6-0 deficit to beat Ursinus 11-7 in the nightcap of a Centennial Conference doubleheader on Senior Day at Kirchhoff Field on Saturday.
 
With the win, the Bullets (8-18, 2-8 CC) salvaged a split after the Bears claimed the opener 15-1 behind a two-hit complete game from Nolan Graber.
 
Before the opener, Gettysburg honored its six seniors, who were playing in their final Saturday home games.
 
In the first game, Ursinus (9-13-1) scored three runs in the first against freshman starter Erik Wortmann (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City). The Bullets pulled to within 3-1 on an unearned run in the third, scoring on an RBI-single from sophomore Ryan LaCoe (Hershey, Pa./Hershey). However, Graber (3-2) was perfect the rest of the way, retiring 19 in a row to end the game.
 
Ursinus broke the game open with a seven-run fourth, when they sent 12 batters to the plate and forced two pitching changes. The Bears tacked on five additional runs from the seventh through the ninth.
 
Graber finished with four strikeouts and did not walk a batter. Wortmann (1-3) left the game in the fourth and was charged with the loss. In just his second appearance of the season, freshman reliever Sam Blanchard (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) allowed just two runs (one earned) over 4 1/3 innings.
 
In the second game, the Bears plated their six early runs on eight hits versus senior starter Brad DeMartino (Westfield, N.J./Westfield). However, three Gettysburg relievers combined to hold Ursinus to just one run over the final six innings.
 
The Bullets got on the scoreboard in the fourth, when freshman Harry Quimby (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) broke up starter Matt Bull's perfect game with a towering solo homer that bounced off the top of the centerfield fence. Gettysburg then broke it open with a seventh-run fifth, when the Bullets stroked seven hits and sent 12 men to the plate. Gettysburg loaded the bases to chase Bull from the game, and four batters later LaCoe drilled a two-run single into center to make it 6-5. Three batters later, freshman Matt Szczesny (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) smashed a three-run double to left, putting the Bullets up 8-6.
 
In the meantime, sophomore reliever John Braun (Ambler, Pa./La Salle College HS) tossed two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth, when the first three Bears reached base. But that's when junior Jonny Bray (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) was summoned out of the pen and got the Bullets out of the inning allowing just one run, which came on a sacrifice fly.
 
Gettysburg tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, making it 10-7, before setting the final score with a run in the seventh.
 
Braun (1-0) earned his first career win for the Bullets, holding Ursinus to one run on three hits over two innings. Bray blanked the Bears on just two hits while fanning four over 2 2/3 strong innings before junior Brendan Wright (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) came on to pitch the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his first collegiate save. He entered the game with two outs and two on in the eighth, but caught a batter looking to end the threat. He would allow a leadoff single in the ninth before retiring the final three batters.
 
Quimby finished 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs in the nightcap for the Bullets while Szczesny also finished 2-for-3 with a double, two runs, and three RBIs. LaCoe went 2-for-4 with three RBIs while sophomore Banks Northington (Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville) also stroked a pair of hits. Senior Josh Cubell (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) notched two runs and two RBIs.
 
Gettysburg returns to the field on Monday, when it hosts Juniata at 3:30 p.m. in a non-conference make-up game.