(Game 1) / (Game 2)
Widener resumed Commonwealth Conference play by getting a pair of road victories, 7-2 and 4-3 at Albright in Reading, PA.
Albright took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of game one. After Matt Pannella laced a two-out single to center and stole second, Jon Raymond drove him home for the game's first run on a base hit to left.
Widener (18-6, 6-2 CC) scored in each of the next three innings, however, capitalizing on a couple Albright mistakes. The Pride scored a run on two-out errors in both the top of the third and fourth innings. Tom DeAngelis (Pottstown, PA) got the first RBI for the Pride with a leadoff home run in the fifth. Four batters later, fellow senior Jason Brooke (Collegeville, PA) added another on an RBI single to left for a 4-1 Widener lead.
Tom Canuso got the Lions (4-14, 0-5) to within 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single to center, but that was all the scoring Albright could manage off junior starting pitcher Jason Ferrie (Royersford, PA). Ferrie (3-2) scattered 10 hits, allowing just two runs in the complete game win.
Sophomore Dennis Hocker (Coral Springs, FL) delivered a knockout blow with a three-run triple in the top of the seventh.
Brooke led the Pride with two hits. DeAngelis and senior Alex Oliver (Lebanon, NJ) scored two runs each.
Matt Rehrig (1-3) permitted six runs – four earned – and six hits over six innings for Albright.
Brooke gave Widener an early lead in game two, driving a two-run homer to center in the second inning for a 2-0 lead. That was his team-leading sixth round tripper of the season. The Pride added yet another unearned run in the inning to make it 3-0.
Albright got an unearned run back in the bottom of the inning, and added two more to tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth. The Lions loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth and got a run on a fielder's choice from Collin Hecker. It appeared senior Kevin Culbert (Brookhaven, PA) was going to get out of the jam allowing just one run, but with two outs in the inning, Widener committed its seventh error of the doubleheader, allowing Rob Mancinelli to score the tying run.
Junior Dan Sieracki (Cherry Hill, NJ) put Widener back in front in the top of the fifth with an RBI single to left, but the Pride squandered an opportunity to pad the lead by leaving the bases loaded in the inning.
Culbert (4-1) and junior reliever Salvatore Spera (Norristown, PA) shut down the Lions from the fifth inning on, combining to allow just one hit and no runs. Spera recorded the save, striking out two in a scoreless seventh.
Paul Labe (0-3) was tagged for four runs – three earned – and seven hits over seven innings for the Lions.
Widener on Sunday hosts Albright to wrap up the season series at noon in Chester, PA.
