COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Gettysburg outhit Ursinus 36-21 and the Bullets ran their winning streak to a school-record 16 games, sweeping a doubleheader on the road in Centennial Conference (CC) baseball action on Sunday.
The Bullets (19-3, 5-0 CC), who remained perfect in conference play, won the opener 9-1 behind seven shutout innings from senior Drew Felsenthal, then posted 20 hits in a tight 9-6 victory in the nightcap.
The win in the first game surpassed the previous school-record winning streak, a 14-gamer that spanned parts of the 1929 and 1930 seasons. Gettysburg also extended its school-record winning streak in one season, which is now four games longer than the previous record of 12 set in 1930.
Starting for the first time since March 14, junior Cory Karagjozi finished 7-for-11 on the day while serving as designated hitter in both games. Senior Nate Simon went 5-for-11 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs, and he pulled into a tie with Mike Luteran for third in school history in career RBIs with 108. Junior Scott Zanghellini finished 4-for-8 and hit safely in both games, pushing his hitting streak to 15.
Senior Chris Yoda earned the victory on the mound in the nightcap, throwing 5 1/3 innings of relief and scattering three runs, while sophomore Luke Lawrence fired two scoreless innings to collect his second save of the year.
The two teams entered the day tied for first in the conference standings at 3-0. Ursinus (11-8, 3-2 CC) had won its previous four games.
In the first game, the Bullets jumped to a 1-0 lead in the third against starter Seth Regensburg. Senior Patrick O'Grady singled leading off and scored on a two-out single from Simon.
Errors would hurt the Bears over the next three innings, when four miscues led to seven unearned runs. After the Bullets plated a single run in the fourth, the Orange and Blue hung up a three spot in both the fifth and sixth. Senior Cam MacDonald drove in a run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, and in the fifth the Bullets received an RBI-single from senior Mike Elisio and a run-scoring triple from Karagjozi to chase Regensburg from the game. In the sixth, Simon drilled an RBI-double before senior Tommy LeNoir smacked a two-run homer to make it an 8-0 game.
The Bears put 12 runners on base through the first seven innings but were unable to dent Felsenthal (5-1), who showed resilience throughout the day. He worked out of bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth innings and allowed back-to-back singles to start the seventh, but he retired his final three batters, setting down a pair of Bears looking. Felsenthal finished with a career-high 11 strikeouts while allowing five hits and four walks. He has now thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings.
Gettysburg added a run in the eighth on an RBI-single from Karagjozi. Freshman Aaron Bezio worked the final two innings on the mound, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out two. Ursinus' run in the eighth snapped a string of 17 consecutive scoreless innings thrown by Bullet pitchers.
Karagjozi finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs while LeNoir went 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs. O'Grady, Simon, Elisio, and MacDonald added two hits apiece.
Austin Feuerman went 3-for-4 for Ursinus while Regensburg (3-2) was charged with the loss.
The Bullets never trailed in the nightcap, when they jumped on Bear starter Louis Aikins right from the start, plating four straight hits to open the game. O'Grady and Karagjozi roped back-to-back doubles down the rightfield line before senior Al Posch (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) followed up with a single. Simon then delivered a two-run double into center to make it a 3-0 game.
Ursinus came right back with three runs over the next two innings against junior Brett Harrington. The Bears scored twice on three singles and a hit batsman in the first, then tied it with one run on three hits in the second before Yoda prevented further damage, coming on with runners on second and third and inducing a pop-up.
The Bullets went in front 4-3 with an unearned run in the fourth, then added two more in the sixth, highlighted by an RBI-double from MacDonald that chased Aikins from the game.
The Bears answered with two runs on three hits and a walk in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-5, but Gettysburg scored three runs over the next two innings to assume a 9-5 lead. The Bullets registered a five-hit, two-run seventh, when LeNoir had a sacrifice fly and MacDonald pushed in a run with one of the team's four infield singles for the game. Zanghellini added a sac fly in the eighth.
Ursinus singled and walked leading off the eighth, prompting head coach John Campo to summon Lawrence out of the bullpen. The Bears pushed home their final run following a sacrifice bunt, a single, and a sacrifice fly, but Lawrence struck out No. 3 hitter Christopher Jablonski looking to quell the threat. Ursinus put the leadoff batter on base in the ninth before Lawrence recorded three straight outs to end the game.
Yoda (2-1) allowed five hits and two walks while striking out a pair while Lawrence walked none and struck out one. Aikins (0-2) suffered the loss, yielding six runs (four earned) on 10 hits.
Karagjozi and Posch each went 3-for-6 with two runs scored while Simon finished 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Zanghellini was 3-for-4 with two runs.