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COLLEGEVILLE, PA – Third baseman Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) went four-for-four with a double, a triple and two runs scored and starting pitcher Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) struck out eight batters in eight innings as the Franklin & Marshall College baseball team defeated Ursinus College 12-0 in Centennial Conference action. The win completes a home-and-home sweep by the Diplomats over the Bears as Franklin & Marshall (12-6, 2-0 Centennial Conference) downed Ursinus (5-10, 0-2 Centennial Conference) 5-1 on March 28 at home on Caplan Field. On the mound, Serro improved to 2-3 on the season as he allowed one Ursinus’ player to reach third base while permitting eight hits and walking two batters. Reliever Brad Andres (Fr., Belle Mead, NJ/Carroll) came on in the ninth and closed out the victory allowing one hit and a walk as Franklin & Marshall improved to 50-53-1 all-time against Ursinus since the series began in 1898.
The Diplomats jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the
first inning as centerfielder Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford,
NJ/Shawnee) walked and stole second base. Second baseman Rob
Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) and Kruger singled
to load the bases with no outs before first baseman Pat O’Reilly
(So., Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) singled to right field to drive
in Milavsky and Stern.
Ursinus threatened in the second inning as Mike Ziemek walked with one out and moved to second on a single by Brendan Evans. Jon Sheppard loaded the bases with a single, but Serro struck out Ben Fisher and got Tom Herrmann to ground out to Stern to escape the inning. Following a 1-2-3 inning by Engle in the bottom of the second inning, the Diplomats broke the game open with six runs in the third with two outs as Kruger tripled to right centerfield and leftfielder Corey Caruthers (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) walked to put runners on the corners. O’Reilly lined a single to right field to score Kruger and move Caruthers to second base before rightfielder Dan Hanecak (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Lancaster Catholic) singled to right field to score Caruthers and move O’Reilly to third base. Designated hitter Rich Gallugi (So., Peabody, MA/St. John’s Prep) singled to centerfield to score O’Reilly and move Hanecak to third base. Catcher Stephen Frederick (Sr., Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) walked to load the bases before second baseman Tom Miller (So., York, PA/Central York) doubled to center field to drive in three runs for an 8-0 lead. Serro rolled through the Bears’ lineup using a double play in the fourth inning to keep Ursinus off second base, as the Bears did not put another run on second base until the sixth inning. Facing reliever Corey Weaver, who entered the game to start sixth inning, Jon Compitello (Sr., Yardley, PA/George School) singled to open the seventh inning and advanced to third on a fielding error by Eric Wickersham in left field. Pinch hitter Jeff Rowand (Jr., York, PA/Dallastown) came off the bench to walk and put runners on the corners before Miller doubled to left field to score Compitello. Batting with runners on second and third and two outs, Milavsky singled to center field to plate Rowand and Miller for an 11-0 lead. The Diplomats finished their scoring in the eighth against reliever Ryan Schmidt as Kruger doubled to right field and Compitello doubled to center field to plate Kruger for the 12-0 final. Andres closed out the game as he got two outs before walking Herrmann and allowed a single by Stephen Benavage. The runners advanced to second and third on a passed ball, but Andres finished the team’s 12th win of the season by getting Rob Caruso to ground out to second base. Engle took the loss for Ursinus allowing seven runs on eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts. At the plate, 10 of the Diplomats’ 17 players that stepped to the plate recorded a hit, including a two-for-four performance by Miller who finished with four RBI and a run scored. O’Reilly finished two-for-three with three RBI and a run scored, Gallugi went two-for-three with a run scored and an RBI and Compitello was two-for-two with a run scored and an RBI.
For Ursinus, Ziemak led the way going two-for-three, as the Bears have dropped three of their last four games. Franklin & Marshall (12-6, 2-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on April 1 at home versus Washington College in a Centennial Conference doubleheader. Game one is set for 11:30 a.m.
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