(Game 1) / (Game 2)

4/12/08 – Widener was swept in a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader, 5-4 and 12-4 by Messiah.
Widener (19-8, 3-6 CC) in game one looked in great shape when freshman Jason Brooke (Collegeville, PA) belted a three-run, first-inning homer for a 3-0 cushion. It was his second long ball of the season.

The Falcons forged a 3-3 tie in the fourth on RBI hits from Ben Kirk and Kyle Stuckey. The Pride grabbed a 4-3 cushion in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double from junior Mike Cahill (Spring Lake, NJ).

However, Messiah scored twice in the fifth for the final score. Ben Snyder crossed home on a wild pitch and Jon-Mike Richards had an RBI groundout.

Travis Thome (4-0) struck out five and allowed four runs – two earned – and five hits over seven innings for Messiah, which won despite committing five errors.

Quakertown, PA junior Ryan Walter (4-3) yielded five runs and nine hits over six innings with two strikeouts for the Pride.

Down 2-0 in the fourth inning of game two, Messiah received a huge break when Widener junior starter Jerry Benedict (Drexel Hill, PA) threw away a two-out comebacker from Stuckey over the first baseman's head. That was the catalyst for a seven-run inning, which included a two-run single from Adam Ranck and a three-run homer from Richards to give the Falcons a 7-2 lead.

Sheldon Witmer cracked his fourth home run of the year in the fifth inning and Jordan Zimmerman hit his first long ball of the season in the sixth.

Witmer (5-0) allowed four runs and nine hits over seven innings with four strikeouts. Richards and Ranck each had three RBI and Snyder totaled three hits.

Benedict (2-3) was charged with seven unearned runs and seven hits over four innings with three strikeouts for the Pride.

Freshman Tom DeAngelis (Pottstown, PA) had a hit in game one and two in game two, running his hitting streak to a team-season-best 24 games.

Widener on Sunday hosts Wilkes, beginning at 1:00 pm.