(box score)

Sophomore Rick Kazigian (West Chester, PA) pitched nine phenomenal innings for his fifth straight win and had plenty of help from his offense in Widener's 9-2 victory over Manhattanville at the NCAA Tournament Mid-Atlantic Regional in Trenton, NJ.

The Pride advance in the elimination bracket to face either No. 1 Johns Hopkins or Keystone on Thursday at 10:00 am.  Widener, which opened play Wednesday with an 11-5 loss to Rowan, has to win five more elimination games to win the regional and advance to the World Series in Appleton, WI.

Widener (26-13) tied the school record for most victories, also accomplished in 2007 and 2008, and snapped a five-game skid in the NCAA Tournament dating to 1982.

This also was the Pride's first NCAA Tournament game in the last eight in which they did not face a school from New Jersey.  The last such contest was a 6-2 loss against Wooster in 1978.

Widener broke the ice with three runs in the top of the third inning, beginning with sophomore Sean Saverio (Horsham, PA) smacking a ground-rule double to deep right that scored junior Tom DeAngelis (Pottstown, PA).  Sophomore Dan Sieracki (Cherry Hill, NJ) followed with an RBI double and senior Tom Connelly (Media, PA) then lined a run-scoring single up the middle.

The Valiants responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 3-2 contest.  Kevin Murray reached on a one-out walk for the team's first baserunner and A.J. Triano followed with a long home run to left-center field.

The Pride got those runs back in the top of the fifth on a two-run double from freshman Dennis Hocker (Coral Springs, FL) for a 5-2 margin.

Three insurance runs for Widener in the top of the eighth, all with two out after none were on base, made it an 8-2 contest.  DeAngelis and junior Alex Oliver (Lebanon, NJ) had back-to-back RBI doubles and Saverio followed with a run-scoring single.

Saverio went 3-for-3 with two RBI and Connelly also rapped three hits for the Pride, who closed with 14 hits and scored all of their runs with two outs.

Alex Mason was tagged for five runs – two earned – and six hits over 4 2/3 innings with six strikeouts for the Valiants (22-21-1), champions of the Freedom Conference.