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Baseball Drops First Game Of Series To Alvernia, 5-4

(boxscore)
Widener kept pace with Commonwealth Conference leader Alvernia, but fell short 5-4 in the first of this three-game series.
 
Before the game, Widener celebrated 10 graduating seniors: Joe Sessa, Bill Hollingsworth, Salvatore Spera, Jason Ferrie, Dan Sieracki, Rick Kazigian, Sean Saverio, Eric Von Stetina, Matt Day and Franco LaBraico.
 
Alvernia (26-10-1, 14-2 CC) got a head-start with two runs in the first inning. Lead-off man and center fielder Nole Saylor got things started with a single to left field on the first pitch from Pride starting hurler Jason Ferrie (Royersford, PA). Later in the inning with two outs and two on, third baseman Aaron Carman hit a triple to right-center to score both men and give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead.
 
Widener saw its first scoring opportunity in the bottom of the first inning when Dan Sieracki (Cherry Hill, NJ) reached third when his single through the left side of the infield wound up rolling all the way to the Blue Monster on a fielding error by the left fielder. Unfortunately, there were already two outs in the inning and his teammates were unable to bring him in.
 
The Crusaders got another run up on the Pride (20-17, 7-9) in the top of the fourth inning. Carman, who hit 2-for-4, hit a double down the left field line past third baseman Matt Scherer (Havertown, PA) to lead the inning off. A sacrifice bunt was laid down, but the throw pulled first baseman Bill Hollingsworth (Drexel Hill, PA) off of the bag, allowing the batsman to reach base and moving Carman third. A groundout to second baseman Kyle Summers (Mohnton, PA) scored the run. On a play that could have saved another run, shortstop Matt Hone (Newtown, PA) backhanded a ball in the 5-6 hole and threw to Scherer at third to catch Kevin Bailey—who broke for third on the hit—between the bags; Scherer then threw to Summers, who was covering second, and got him out.
 
Widener, in the flip-side of the inning, gained back two of the three Alvernia runs on four hits. Hollingsworth, hitting 2-for-3 on the day, led the inning off with a single to right-center. After two straight fielder's choice outs, Scherer hit a single to left field (putting runners on first and second). Summers hit a seeing-eye single through the right side, scoring Hone from second and moving Scherer to third. Left fielder Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) hit a single through the left side, scoring Scherer. Summers was out at home on a close play from the left fielder to the catcher to end the inning.
 
An inning later, on just one hit the Pride earned another run. Right fielder Brendan O'Brien (Coatesville, PA) led off with a walk and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from catcher Sean Saverio (Horsham, PA). With two outs, Hollingsworth tallied his team and league leading 55th hit of the season with a single up the middle to score O'Brien and tie the game. Hollingsworth went from first to third on a wild pitch from starting pitcher Andrew Kirk (5-0), but the inning ended with a strike out before he could score.
 
In the sixth inning Widener took the lead. Scherer drew a one out walk and moved to second when Summers fisted a ball into shallow right field. Weiss used his speed to beat out a double play ball and keep the inning alive, leaving men on first and third. During O'Brien's at-bat, Weiss took off for second, but the throw from catcher Bailey went astray (almost hitting Kirk). Scherer scored on the play, but after some confusion Weiss was eventually tug out at second.
 
Alvernia took the lead back from the Pride the very next inning. A one out double followed by a single—both to left field—scored a run and tied the game 4-4. Another single, this time to center field, scored the fifth and final run for the Crusaders. Mark Noyalis (Dallas, PA) was brought in to relieve Ferrie (4-3), but only saw one batter as Saverio caught Brian Witkowski trying to steal second.
 
The Pride put men on base in each of the next three innings, but could not manufacture any runs. Summers ended the day going 3-for-4 with one RBI. Ferrie suffered his third loss of the season after allowing five earned runs to cross the plate. He struck out two and only walked one batter. Kirk received the win, sustaining his undefeated season, and the Crusader's side-arming closer Kevin Becker-Menditto earned his sixth save of the season.
 
Widener travels to Alvernia on Saturday to play a doubleheader that will decide its conference tournament fate, with game one beginning at noon.
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