Sophomore Tom McDonald pitched seven strong innings to earn his first career win and was backed by an offense that pounded out eight extra-base hits in the Muhlenberg baseball team’s 16-6 win against Ursinus.

The victory came against a Bear (7-8, 6-3) squad that entered the game tied

McDonald has struck out 14 batters in 10 1/3 innings in his last two outings.

for first in the Centennial Conference and kicked off the Muhlenberg’s most important week of the season on a high note. The Mules (12-6, 4-3) play six games this week, five of them at home, where they are undefeated.

McDonald struck out a career-high eight batters and walked no one. He breezed through the first four innings, facing the minimum 12 batters, and allowed three earned runs in his stint.

Muhlenberg scored its runs in bunches, with four innings of three or more runs. In the second, back-to-back triples by senior Matthew Long and freshman Joe Carlo, followed by back-to-back doubles by senior C.J. Kessler and sophomore Ryan Sassaman, keyed a four-run uprising.

Long, who entered the game in a 1-for-22 slump, finished with three of the extra-base hits and drove in a career-high five runs. He hit two-run doubles in both the third and seventh innings to move into seventh place on the Mules’ all-time list with 38 career extra-base hits.

Senior C.J. Kessler also hit two doubles, one of which drove in two runs in the fifth. Carlo scored three runs and drove in two, and sophomore A.J. Bettini drove in three runs.

Through 18 games, Muhlenberg has 62 extra-base hits (41 doubles, 14 triples, seven home runs). Last year, in 31 games, the Mules had 61 extra-base hits (42 doubles, 13 triples, six home runs).

Muhlenberg has not lost to Ursinus at home since 2001 but has not defeated the Bears on the road in a regular-season game since the start of the CC in 1994.

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