(box score) / (scenes from the NCAA Tournament)

Widener ran into a first-inning onslaught against No. 13 Kean and its magical season ended at the NCAA Tournament Mid-Atlantic Regional with an 8-2 loss in Trenton, NJ.

Kean wasted little time with five runs on five solid hits in the top of the first inning.  Ken Gregory and Nick Nolan had two-run doubles and Chris Carrano added an RBI double as the Cougars batted around.

The New Jersey Athletic Conference champions plated another run in the third on a long home run from Gregory for a 6-0 margin.

Widener got one back in the sixth on an RBI single from senior Colin Keelan (Ellicott City, MD) and had a chance to do more damage, but left the bases loaded for the second time in the contest.

Sophomore Mike Pappas (Brookhaven, PA) did a solid job out of the bullpen for Widener, tossing seven strong innings and allowing just two runs – one earned – and three hits.  Coatesville, PA senior Dan Gross (2-2) gave up six runs – four earned – and seven hits over two-plus innings.

Junior Tom DeAngelis (Pottstown, PA) had two hits to run his hitting streak to 11 games and sophomore Sean Saverio (Horsham, PA) also notched two hits.

Greg Baruka settled down after loading the bases in the first inning, yielding two runs and eight hits over nine innings with eight strikeouts for Kean (37-11). Gregory closed with three RBI.

Widener (27-14), champions of the Commonwealth Conference, was making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 1999.  It broke the school record most victories in a season, reached at least 20 victories for the sixth straight year and won its first regular-season league title since taking the Middle Atlantic Conference Southern Division in 1978.