COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Led by five RBI by senior Tom Jacobs, the Ursinus baseball team wrapped up its season with a split against Muhlenberg. The Bears lost a close opener, 3-1, but bounced back in game two, 7-4.
Despite a strong outing from Nick DeFeo in his final collegiate appearance, the Bears fell victim to a dominant effort from Muhlenberg pitcher Will Nomura in a fast-paced opener. In game two, the Bears fell behind early, but it was the bat of Jacobs that willed the Bears back to victory.
Game 1
DeFeo worked some magic to work around a base-runner in the second, picking off Skyler Petrie with a snap-throw to first and striking out the next batter on the ensuing pitch.
A few minutes later, the Bears (7-8, 7-7) took advantage of some good fortune to plate the opening run. Tom Snipes' towering pop-up resulted in a two-base error when the Mule shortstop lost it in the sun and had the ball carom off his glove, and Snipes managed to make it to second with a crafty slide around a tag attempt. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Colby Chan's sacrifice fly.
DeFeo worked himself into and out of trouble in the fourth, losing his command on a four-pitch walk and then hitting the next batter on the ensuing pitch. After a mound visit, induced an inning-ending double play as Solomon Griffith made a sliding stop on a ball headed up the middle before flipping to Jerry Scavone, who fired a laser on to first to complete the twin killing.
Miscues put DeFeo in another bind in the fifth, when Will Peiffer was unable to handle a sinking liner to allow a leadoff baserunner. Following a sacrifice, DeFeo plunked his second batter of the afternoon, but recovered to spin a three-pitch strikeout for the second out before giving way to Casey Fitzsimmons in relief. Ryan Hebert greeted the southpaw with a bouncer through the right side to tie the game, but Fitzsimmons prevented further damage by getting the next Mule to pop out on the infield.
Held without a hit since Griffith's leadoff double in the first, the Bears notched their first base-runner since the second inning when Griffith sliced a single to center to stop a stretch of 13 straight retired by Muhlenberg's Will Nomura.
As it did all throughout Game 1, the sun wreaked havoc on the infielders, and it proved costly in the seventh. Griffith lost a pop-up in the sun to permit the Mules a one-out runner, and that runner eventually came around to score on back-to-back singles by Jonathan Toth and Jake Braet. Ryan Hebert's sacrifice fly made it a 3-1 Muhlenberg lead.
Tom Jacobs led off the seventh with a bloop single, and Thomas Pancheri's third hit of the year, a hot shot to left, put men on first and second with only one out. Nomura, however, got out of the jam with consecutive outs to end it and polish off his seven-inning gem.
Game 2
The Mules (6-8, 5-7) carried the momentum into the nightcap, plating two runs in the top of the first off Nolan Graber with the help of an error. The Bears responded in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own. Dylan Crammer and Will Peiffer each got on base and then a single through the middle by Jacobs brought them home to tie the game.
Muhlenberg added a run in the fourth and fifth innings to reclaim its two-run lead. However, once again it was the Bears, and more specifically, Jacobs who responded. In the bottom-half of the fifth innings, a double-play quickly put two outs on the board. The Bears didn't quit, however.
Ursinus put two runners back on the bases as Jerry Scavone got hit and Peiffer earned a walk. With two outs and trailing by two, Jacobs sent a pitch deep over the left-field wall to score three and give the Bears a 5-4 lead. The homer was the first of the year for Jacobs, and the third of the senior's career.
The Bears added to that lead in the sixth. A sac-fly by Nick Diaz brought in Jared Minnichbach and then a well-placed double by Scavone that got stuck in the corner brought in Owen Harris from first. Just like that, Ursinus went up 7-4 heading into the final frame.
In to close, James Schuld earned his second save of the season. There would be no late-game drama in this one as Schuld got the final batter swinging on a strikeout to clinch the win.
Seniors played a crucial role in the finale. In addition to Jacobs and Scavone with the bats, Drew Hartman earned his second career win with two outs of relief. A.J. Alvero got an out in the sixth, and Schuld took it from there for his second save of the spring.
Graber allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in 4.1 innings, striking out three in his final start. The 2018 CC rookie of the year finished his career with an 11-7 record, a 3.56 ERA, and 83 strikeouts in 126.1 innings.
Scavone (91) and Jacobs (85) each came close to 100 career hits despite missing most of last season and half of this one. Interestingly, both players were 12-for-46 (.261) at the plate this season; Jacobs finished on a hot streak, batting .412 (12-for-29) over his last nine games.