York, Pa. (May 7, 2016) – The Widener baseball team advanced to the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth Championship game with an 11-7 victory over Stevenson at PeoplesBank Park on Saturday. The title game will take place on Sunday at noon, and they will take on Messiah.
Stevenson opened the game with one run in the top of the first inning on an RBI ground out by Kevin Kopas. Greg McDonough (Ambler, Pa.) drew an eight pitch walk and Bob Barnett (Glenolden, Pa.) was hit by a pitch in the first inning. A few pitches later, both McDonough and Barnett attempted a double steal forcing Jake Dimon to overthrow John D'Aquanno at third base.
McDonough scored on the play to tie the game-up at one, while Barnett advanced to third on the play. Barnett would score on a single up the middle by Justin Healey (Ocean City, N.J.) as the Pride took a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the second inning, Joe Santone (Blackwood, N.J.) sat the Mustangs down in order. Widener would go down quietly in the second inning, but get the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the third inning.
The bases were loaded for Kyle Lowery (Norristown, Pa.) with one out, and the sophomore earned a walk to score Enos. Junior Glenn Seymour (Eagleville, Pa.) knocked in a two runs on a single up the middle. Lowery advanced to third on the play, while Stephen DeBellis (Marlton, N.J.) and Nick D'Alessandro (Williamstown, N.J.) scored to give Widener a 5-1 advantage. The Mustangs added two runs in the top of the fourth to cut into the lead of the Blue and Gold.
Healey would get the first run back as he rocketed a ball off the left field fence to score Barnett from second on an RBI double. DeBellis would single through the left side, which allowed Enos to score from second. The freshman would advance to second base as D'Alessandro forced Jake Hall to make the throw to third base.
Elliot Snyder (Roxbury, N.J.), who earned the victory, would come into relieve Santone in the fifth inning. The righty would get the first two batters before the Mustangs put a pair of runs on the board. Snyder finished the day after allowing four runs and striking out one in one-plus inning of work on the hill.
The Pride would go quietly in the fifth inning, but Stevenson would score a run in the top of the sixth. Matthew Stranix (South Harrison, N.J.) was able to get Widener out of a sixth inning jam with runners on first and second with two outs.
Barnett led the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run over the left field fence. A few batters later, Lowery would launch a two-run home run over the "Arch Nemesis". The wall is the tallest in professional baseball at 37'-8", including standing taller than the "Green Monster" at historic Fenway Park.
Healey finished the game 3-for-5 from the plate with two runs batted in and a run scored. Barnett scored three times as he was 2-for-4 from the plate with a run batted in on his first home run of the 2016 campaign. The Blue and Gold collected ten hits and had seven different players score at least one time.
Donovan Davis (Wallingford, Pa.) took the mound in the top of the seventh inning. He allowed one run and two hits while striking out four in three innings of work out of the bullpen.
Widener advances to play Messiah on Sunday in the MAC Commonwealth Championship game at noon. The Falcons defeated Stevenson 3-1 in the elimination game on Saturday night.
