COTE ST. LUC, QUE -- A pair of freshmen freshman teamed up to give the McGill University baseball team a dramatic 3-2 victory over visiting Ursinus College at Gary Carter Field, Sunday.
Auguste Guern, a Montreal-born native of France, scored the winning run during McGill's final at bats in the seventh inning after a walk-off RBI double by
Matthew Rachman of Surrey, B.C.
The result salvaged a doubleheader split against the Bears, an NCAA Div. 3 squad from Collegeville, Penn, that skunked McGill 10-0 in the opener. The teams also split a Saturday twin-bill, which included a 2-0 McGill win and a 10-3 Ursinus victory.
The game was tied at 2-2 with McGill batting in the bottom of the seventh inning when Rachman hit the first pitch he saw to centrefield cashing in Guern, who had reached base on the previous pitch after an error by shortstop
Tom Snipes.
McGill tallied six hits in the game, led by Rachman, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound third baseman and science major, who had three hits in four at bats. Another key factor in the offence was left-fielder
Vincent Rizzolo, an arts freshman from Montreal, who put McGill ahead 1-0 in second inning after doubling to centre, stealing third base and scoring on an error by the catcher. He also smacked a homerun to right field to make it 2-0 in the fourth inning
Three McGill pitchers combined to strike out nine and issue five walks, while Ursinus pitchers sat down three and walked four.
Cole Millinger started for McGill. The sophomore right-hander went five innings, allowing seven hits and two runs while striking out seven and walking three.
Bowen DuPhily threw one inning in relief out of the bullpen and
Pierre-Olivier Avoine finished up as the winning pitcher. He went one inning, allowing no runs on no hits and walking one.
R.J. Grace started for Ursinus but lasted only 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and one run.
Blake Fortune was credited with the loss for the Bears. He faced just two batters, allowed one hit and was replaced by
Casey Fitsimmons, who gave up the game-winning hit.
Infielder
Tim Pyne went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead Ursinus offensively.
McGill, which improved to 17-14 overall, now advances to the national invitational championship tournament at the Ajax Sportsplex in Ajax, Ont. They will open against Concordia (10 a.m.) and Acadia (2 p.m.) on Friday, Oct. 18. The opening round concludes on Oct. 19 when McGill locks horns with McMaster in a 10:30 p.m. start. The semifinals and championship game is slated for Sunday.
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