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Baseball Rallies In Second Game To Split Doubleheader With Alvernia

(Game 1) / (Game 2)

Widener could not manufacture a run in the first game and lost 2-0 before coming back in the second game of today's doubleheader with Alvernia with two big scoring innings to win 11-7 to complete the Commonwealth Conference series.
 
The first game of the day started out with a lead-off home run over the Blue Monster in left field by Leon Stimpson, which would have been enough to win the game for the Crusaders (14-7, 6-3 CC).
 
Widener had runners in scoring position in four different innings, but could not string the hits together to bring any across the plate. In the second inning, the Pride held runners on first and third with two outs and failed to execute a double steal, which ended the inning. An inning later shortstop Matt Scherer (Havertown, PA) was standing on second when a strike out and a fly-out left him stranded. In the fifth inning Sam Christie (Upper Darby, PA) was hit by a pitch with two strikes against him and two outs away—both on strikeouts by pitcher Mike Weinhold—and stole second base before yet another strikeout. Looking to put runs across in a last chance effort, Scherer hit a deep fly ball off of the Blue Monster for a double, but was left stranded.
 
Weinhold received the win after giving up only four hits and striking out 11 over six innings pitcher. Robert Barth (Norristown, PA) was saddled with the loss after giving up just one earned run and five hits over seven innings.
 
Game two got off to a rocky start for starting pitcher Brandon McCloskey (Belford, NJ) as Alvernia scored three runs on five hits in the top of the first. Stimpson sparked the offense with a single to left, followed by a double to left from Rory Clemens. With men on second and third, senior Chris Ray tagged a line drive to Widener third baseman Matt Hone (Newtown, PA), who beat Stimpson to the bag for an unassisted double play. With two away in the inning, McCloskey gave up a single and a homerun to right field before eventually pitching a groundout to Hone to get out of the inning.
 
The second inning was scoreless for both teams, but Widener had its first of two big innings in the third, scoring five earned runs on seven hits. Scherer led the inning off with a single through the left side of the infield, but was subsequently picked off. Fellow middle infielder Kyle Summers (Mohnton, PA) then got a single to right field, which was the second of six hits in a row for the Pride (9-11, 5-4). Christie and Alec O'Dell (Edgewood, MD) each had singles with Brendan O'Brien (Coatesville, PA) and Marc Noyalis (Dallas, PA) each getting doubles to help tie the game at 3-3. Catcher Dennis Hocker (Coral Springs, FL) hit a double to left-center off of the wall that scored both O'Dell and Noyalis to give Widener the lead before the end of the inning.
 
Alvernia scored two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Christie made a diving catch in center to get the first out, but Brian Witkowski hit a double to right-center followed by Stimpson drawing a five-pitch walk. Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) stepped in to replace McCloskey on the mound with two outs and gave up two singles before ending the inning with a fly-out to left field.
 
The top of the fifth started off with a lead-off double to the right field corner followed by two quick outs.  The 5-5 tie was broken when Witkowski hit a two-run homer to the deepest part of the field in center.
 
With a “never say die” attitude, Widener came through in a big way in the sixth inning with six runs on five hits. Michael Riverso (Philadelphia, PA) led off the inning with a single through the middle of the infield stole second base with one out. Summers hit a double to right field that scored Riverso and crossed the plate with a back-door slide on Christie's right field single. Christie stole second base to put him in scoring position for O'Brien, who hit a line drive single up the middle for an RBI. O'Dell blasted a ball to deep left-center field, but it was tracked down for the second out of the inning.
 
With two outs away, some heads up base running gave Widener some extra runs. Noyalis singled to center field, moving O'Brien to second, before Hone walked to load the bases for stand-in catcher Alex Barclay (Crofton, MD) who also walked to bring in O'Brien. With Riverso back in the batter's box, relief pitcher threw a wild pitch that scored Noyalis standing up and also scored Hone from second base when it was realized catcher Dustin Arnold lost the ball. Riverso was hit by a pitch and caught stealing between first and second to end the inning, but the damage was already done as Alvernia had just one hit in the top of the seventh.
 
Weiss (1-1) recorded his first win of the season after pitching 2.1 innings of relief, giving up four hits and two earned runs. Noyalis came in to close the game, gave up one hit and one walk before striking out Witkowski looking to end the game. Collins receives the loss.
 
Between the two games, Christie and Noyalis each went 3-for-6 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. O'Brien and Summers scored twice each in the second game and had two and one RBI, respectively.  Noyalis extended his career-best and team-season-high hitting streak to 11 games.
 
Widener returns to the field on Tuesday, April 2, to take on TCNJ at home beginning at 3:30 pm.
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