BOX SCORE (Game One)
BOX SCORE (Game Two)

Ft. Pierce, Fla. (March 11, 2011) - Starting pitchers Chuck Nicholas and Andrew Kirk dazzled as Alvernia University (7-1) swept the Ursinus College Bears in doubleheader action. Nicholas threw six solid innings in game one striking out nine while allowing only three hits before closer Austin Rohrbach came in to close the door on a 2-1 victory. In game two, Kirk threw a complete game 2-hit shutout fanning 12 batters en route to his second win of the year by a final of 9-0.

In game one, the Crusaders pushed the first run across in bottom of the second after a single by Travis Wrambel followed by three walks in the inning that forced in Wrambel from third base. Wrambel scored the second run of the game in the bottom of the fourth after he singled and scored on a double off the bat of Eric Domitrovits.

Nicholas worked out of trouble leaving runners on the corners in the top of the third and stranded a runner at second with one out in the top of the fourth. Ursinus managed to score its only run of the day after right fielder Garrett Smith reach on an error and later scored on a single by third baseman Rob Vogt in the top of the fifth.

In the top of the sixth, Nicholas struck out the side in his last inning of work and gave the ball to Rohrbach in the seventh to close the game. Rohrbach retired the next 3 batter on a line out followed by two strikeouts giving him his third save of the season as Nicholas earned his first win of the season.

The Crusaders jumped out in front and never looked back in game two after scoring four runs in the top of the first. Leon Stimpson led off game two with a walk, moved to second on a groundout and scored after a single by Ray. Alvernia recorded two more singles by freshman Chris Gehris and senior Reid Martin plating Ray for the second run of the inning.

Gehris scored a batter later after a groundout by Wrambel and Martin scored after a single by Kevin Bailey. The Crusaders tallied five hits, all singles, in the inning for the early lead. In the second, senior Tim Ahlquist led off with a single, reached second on a single by senior Jeff Smith and scored after two consecutive walks giving the Crusaders a 5-0 lead.

Kirk recorded three of his 12 strikeout after striking out the side in the bottom of the second and faced the minimum in his first four innings despite allowing one hit after Bailey threw out a runner from his knees after blocking a ball in the dirt.

Alvernia plated another run in the top of the fourth when Stimpson scored his second run of the day after being walked to lead off the inning and scored on a single by Gehris who went 3-for-3 with a walk in game two.

Kirk paced himself the rest of the way allowing only two runners to reach second in the game and did not allow a hit in his last two innings of work. The Crusaders added three more runs in the top of the seventh after a sacrifice fly by Aaron Carman, an RBI double by Jack Brucker, and an infield single by Stimpson, bringing the final count to 9-0.

The Crusaders trio of Kirk, Nicholas and Rohrbach totaled 23 strikeouts on the day allowing only five hits while walking one. At the plate, the Crusaders recorded 18 hits while scoring a total of 11 runs combined in both games.

The Crusaders wrap up their spring break trip Saturday with a match-up against former PAC foe Neumann University at 12:00 p.m.

Game One - Alvernia 2, Ursinus 1
Game Two - Alvernia 9, Ursinus 0