Championship Central
Release courtesy of Ursinus Athletic Communications
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A four-run third inning powered the Ursinus baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Gettysburg College in the first round of the Centennial Conference Baseball Championships on Tuesday at Thomas Field.
The win improved the Bears' record to 23-16-1 on the season and marked their first Centennial Conference playoff victory since defeating Haverford, 6-4, in May 2017.
Ursinus was led by strong pitching performances from first-year
Jamie O'Neill and sophomore
Alex Grehawick. O'Neill made his fourth career start and delivered 4 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs. Grehawick (4-1) earned the win in relief, tossing 4 1/3 shutout innings while allowing three hits and striking out four.
At the plate, junior
Brandon Sullivan, along with sophomores
Matthew Callahan and
Isaac Gesford, each recorded two hits and combined for four RBIs. First-year
Brett Barrett added a hit and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Gettysburg scored the game's first run in the top of the first, capitalizing on a one-out triple followed by consecutive singles. O'Neill settled in, however, inducing a 4-6-3 double play to strand a runner in scoring position.
Ursinus responded in the bottom of the third, scoring all four runs on four hits and one error to take a 4-1 lead. Sophomore
Devin Fogg led off with a double down the right-field line before Sullivan tripled to center field to tie the game at one. Callahan followed with an RBI single to right, and sophomore
Luke Kopec walked to put runners on first and second with one out. After a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, Gesford singled to left to score Callahan and Kopec, extending the lead to 4-1.
O'Neill worked around a two-out walk in the fourth, forcing an infield pop-up to end the inning. In the bottom half, the Bears loaded the bases with one out after walks by senior
George Nestor and Fogg, along with a Sullivan single. Ursinus was unable to capitalize, however, as a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the threat.
Gettysburg added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 4-2. With the tying run at the plate, Grehawick entered and struck out the ensuing batter to preserve the lead.
Grehawick continued to control the game, retiring six of the next eight batters to keep Ursinus ahead entering the seventh. Sullivan led off the inning with a walk, and singles by Callahan and Kopec loaded the bases with no outs. The Bears were unable to add an insurance run, as three consecutive strikeouts ended the inning.
Grehawick retired the side in order in the eighth and worked around a leadoff single in the ninth, recording two fly outs and a ground out to secure the 4-2 victory.
Ursinus returns to action Thursday, April 30th, traveling to No. 8 Johns Hopkins. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Apr. 28 | Collegeville, Pa.
Game 1: #4 Ursinus d. #5 Gettysburg, 4-2 | Box Score
Thursday, Apr. 30 | at #1 & #2 seeds
Game 2: #4 Ursinus at #1 Johns Hopkins, 3 p.m. | TICKETS
Game 3: #3 Washington College at #2 McDaniel, 3 p.m | TICKETS
Saturday, May 2 | Baltimore, Md. | TICKETS
Game 4: Loser of game 2 vs. Loser of game 3, 10 a.m.
Game 5: Winner of game 2 vs. Winner of game 3, not before 1:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after game 3
Game 6: Winner of game 4 vs. Loser of game 5, begins 30 minutes after game 4
Sunday, May 3 | Baltimore, Md.
Game 7: Winner of game 5 vs. Winner of game 6, 12 p.m.
Game 8: Championship game, if necessary, begins 30 minutes after game 6
