(boxscore)

4/29/08 -- Freshman pinch-hitter Jason Brooke (Collegeville, PA) lined the go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth inning for fourth-seeded Widener, a 6-5 winner over No. 5 seed Lebanon Valley in game one of the Commonwealth Conference Tournament.

By taking this single-elimination game, the Pride (25-12) advance to the double-elimination part of the tournament that starts Thursday in West Lawn, PA. Widener plays top-seeded Elizabethtown at 4:00 pm and No. 2 seed Messiah battles third-seeded Albright at 7:30 pm.

With the contest tied 5-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, freshman Tom DeAngelis (Pottstown, PA) led off with a single up the middle. Shane Specht was replaced on the mound for the Dutchmen (12-24) by Nicholas Faria and allowed a sacrifice by senior Pat Santry (Newtown, PA) that sent DeAngelis to second.

Senior Matt Fischer (Bensalem, PA) was intentionally walked and sophomore Tom Connelly (Media, PA) flied out to center for the second out. Brooke stepped in and delivered, ripping a single to left field that scored DeAngelis for the go-ahead run.

Senior Tristan Harner (Palm, PA) permitted a one-out single in the ninth by Brandon Thompson. But he got Dennis Morgan to fly out and Corey Lamoureux on a fielder's choice for his first save of the year.

Coatesville, PA sophomore Dan Gross (4-0) pitched great for Widener, retiring 15 straight batters from the third through eighth innings. He notched a career-high nine strikeouts, permitting five runs – four earned – and five hits over eight innings.

Specht (1-4) allowed one run and two hits over two innings.

Freshman Tom Mahoney (Norristown, PA) drove home three runs and DeAngelis had three hits for the Pride.

Joe Soupik blasted a two-run homer in the eighth to forge a 5-5 tie for LVC. He had two of his team's six hits.