LANCASTER, Pa. — A leadoff triple by Patrick Elliott set the table for a walkoff victory in the ninth by Franklin & Marshall, who pulled out a 3-2 victory over Ursinus in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Tuesday evening. The Diplomats (12-10, 3-0 CC) were engaged in a pitching duel against the Bears (8-14, 1-2 CC) for much of the contest before breaking through once more in the ninth to clinch victory.

F&M and Ursinus were deadlocked through the fourth, when Jakob Hoffman broke the stalemate with a homer to left field for a 1-0 lead. The Bears answered with a solo shot of their own to knot the game just half an inning later.

The Diplomats used a little two-out magic to conjure up another run in the bottom of the fifth, as Patrick Elliott’s heads-up baserunning turned a sure-fire single into a double to put a runner in scoring position. Spencer Berson laced a single through the left side to score Elliott for a 2-1 lead.

The lead disappeared in the top of the sixth, as a double and single in succession tied the game at 2-2.

Ursinus nearly took the lead in the ninth, putting two on with one away. A dropped pop-fly actually worked in F&M’s favor, getting the middle runner for the second out, then working a flyout to center to close the frame.

Elliott stepped up again for the Diplomats, tripling to right center to put the winning run just 90 feet from home. Ursinus opted to pitch with one away to Spencer Berson, who hit a two-strike hot shot to short. The ball took a bounce off the edge of the infield grass past the shortstop, scoring Elliott to end the game.

Pat Elliott led the way with a 2-4 effort, scoring two of the three F&M runs. Bobby Falese also had a multi-hit game, while Spencer Berson drove in two Diplomat runners.

Charlie Wright tossed the longest start of his career, throwing seven innings, allowing just two runs while punching out six. Wright now has a 1.79 ERA in his last three appearances, tossing 15.1 innings while allowing just three runs.

F&M will travel for the away portion of the matchup on Friday against Ursinus, with a 3:30 p.m. start. Muhlenberg then comes to town on Saturday at Caplan Field to face the Diplomats with a noon start for game one.