Carter’s two hits made him the first player in program history with 50 hits in each of two seasons ...

The Mules (22-15) advance to the semifinals at Johns Hopkins and will face Franklin & Marshall (29-8) at Johns Hopkins at 11:00 tomorrow. The winner of that game will play a best-of-three series against first-seeded Johns Hopkins (32-6) to determine the champion.

Carter allowed only three earned runs while striking out four and walking three in nine innings. His eight wins tie the school record set by Mark Kwiatkowski in 1980. Carter also set school records for innings pitched (84) and strikeouts (76) in a season.

Ursinus (20-18) took a 3-1 lead by scoring three times in the bottom of the second, but managed only seven baserunners the rest of the game. Muhlenberg tied the score in the top of the third on a two-run single by junior Ben Carr, then went ahead the next inning on consecutive bases-loaded walks to Carter and Carr. Freshman Aaron Regensburg started both rallies with singles.

... and Carr’s three RBI made him the seventh player in team history to drive in 30 in a season.

The Mules extended their lead to 6-3 in the top of the seventh when junior Steve Rohn tripled to right-center and scored on an errant relay throw.

The Bears made things interesting by scoring two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Muhlenberg got them right back in the top of the ninth. Senior Mike Morris drove a single through the middle for one run, and sophomore Adam Sadler’s second RBI groundout of the game brought in another.

Carter retired the side 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, recording the last two outs himself by spearing a line drive up the middle and catching a pop fly.

The win was the Mules’ first in a postseason game since a 12-3 victory against Johns Hopkins in the 1980 MAC South championship game. It was also their first at Ursinus since the formation of the CC.

Junior Justin Rubenstein reached base in four of five plate appearances. He, Carter, Morris, Rohn and Regensburg all had two hits, as the Mules mounted a 12-hit attack against a pitcher who had beaten them earlier in the season.

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