The Lead, The Comeback, The Walkoff; Baseball Over Messiah, 8-7

(box score)

A walk-off sacrifice fly from junior Paul Shepherd (Secane, PA) gave Widener an 8-7 Commonwealth Conference victory on Senior Day over Messiah in Chester, PA.

Widener (25-11, 14-5 CC) remains in first place in the conference after game one of the three-game series. The Pride maintain a one-game lead over Alvernia, which posted an 11-5 win today over Arcadia.

Freshman right-hander Donovan Davis (Wallingford, PA) pitched well for the Pride, allowing two earned runs and striking out two batters in six innings. Senior day honoree Glenn Stanners (Brookhaven, PA) secured the win to improve to 4-4 after allowing no earned runs in one inning of relief.

Messiah scored in the opening inning, but Widener returned with two runs in the top of the inning when freshman Micheal Elfreth (Washington Twp, NJ) reached third with fellow freshman Bob Barnett (Glenolden, PA) on first. A wild pitch was thrown and Barnett took off to second, the catcher's throw was too late and bounced past the shortstop into centerfield. Elfreth was then able to advance home.

On the next pitch, senior Michael Riverso (Philadelphia, PA) singled to right field to drive home Barnett. Riverso went 3-of-5 on the day to improve his average to a conference best .426 on 52 hits.

Messiah (15-14, 11-8) tied the score in the fourth inning when Jacob Sprengle led off with a double and was driven home from Josh Good.

The lead would not last long as the Pride scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, freshman Nicholas Enos (Williamstown, NJ) hit a ball under the glove of the third baseman to bring home Barnett and Riverso on the play. Another freshman, Greg McDonough (Ambler, PA) then hit a double down the right field line to drive home two more runs. McDonough finished 2-of-4 to bring his average up to .333 on the season.

After freshman Justin Healey (Ocean City, NJ) hit an RBI single in the seventh, Widener held a 7-3 lead with two innings remaining.

In the top of the ninth, Messiah scored four runs in a tremendous comeback, highlighted by a triple from Sprengle that scored three runs, and a fourth RBI from teammate Jon Lapp to tie the game at 7-7.

In the bottom of the ninth, Widener kept its heads up as McDonough led off the inning with a single through the left side. Senior infielder Kyle Summers (Mohnton, PA) was hit by a pitch, followed by senior Sam Christie (Upper Darby, PA) bunting a ball down the right field line that stayed fair only by inches to load the bases with no outs. Shepherd steeped up and hit a game winning sacrifice fly into left field to bring home McDonough.

Widener is back in action at Messiah on Saturday at 12:00 pm. A sweep of the Falcons will secure the Pride a top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

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