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Baseball to Face La Roche in its First Game at the NCAA Tournament

Widener, champions of the Commonwealth Conference, will begin its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday against La Roche in Marietta, OH.
 
Game time at Don Schaly Stadium is 9:30 am.  The Pride are the fourth seed for the double-elimination regional, which continues through Sunday, and the Redhawks are the No. 5 seed.
 
Widener (31-11, 16-5 CC) enters the week coming off its second Commonwealth Conference title and eighth overall league crown, including six from the Middle Atlantic Conference.  The Pride broke the school record for most wins, most league wins and are riding an eight-game winning streak.  The streak is the longest since a 10-game run earlier this year and the school record is a 17-game streak accomplished in 1978.
 
The title was clinched May 3 when Conference Player of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Michael Riverso (Philadelphia, PA) had an RBI infield single in the last of the ninth inning to score fellow senior Sam Christie (Upper Darby, PA) for a 3-2 Widener victory over Alvernia.  Riverso batted .455 (5-for-11) for the week with a .538 on-base percentage, helping the team hit .304.
 
Widener's starting pitching was extremely dominant, allowing the bullpen to just face just one batter over three games in the tournament.  The Pride for the tournament had a 2.00 ERA, 13 strikeouts, only three walks and its opponents hit just .240.
 
Riverso, who enters with a seven-game hitting streak, has been impeccable this season at first base as he also was tabbed first team all-league one year after being named Honorable Mention.  He is third in the country with a .554 on-base percentage, 21st with a .437 batting average, first in the conference with 42 RBI, tied for third in school history with 62 hits this year and also easily leads the squad with 11 doubles and 13 multi-RBI games.
 
Senior Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) went from a bullpen pitcher and outfielder last year to being tabbed the league's Pitcher of the Year.  He owns a 7-0 start that included five complete games -- all consecutive -- and his best outing came April 18 at Elizabethtown, firing 11 innings in a scheduled seven-inning contest in Widener's 4-1 win.  Weiss is second in the conference with a 1.77 ERA, tied for fourth with a .220 opponents batting average against, second with 66 innings pitched, tied for fourth with 44 strikeouts and first with seven wins.
 
Freshman Michael Elfreth (Washington Twp., NJ) was a huge addition at third base and his play earned him the honors of being the league's Rookie of the Year and first team all-conference.  He leads the conference and is tied for first in school history with 64 hits.  He also leads the league with 42 runs and 98 assists along with being third with 14 stolen bases.   Elfreth also is second on the team with a .372 batting average and third with 19 RBI.
 
Freshman outfielder/designated hitter Bob Barnett (Glenolden, PA), one of 21 newcomers on this year's roster, made his mark in being tabbed first team all-league.  He is second in the league with 40 runs, third with 49 hits and second with 15 stolen bases as well as sitting third on the team with a .336 batting average and tied for fourth with 18 RBI.
 
Third-year coach Mike LaRosa was rewarded for the leading the Pride in their record campaign by being picked the league's Coach of the Year.  After helping West Chester get to the NCAA Tournament three times as a player, he now is going as a coach as has amassed a 70-52 record during his time in Chester.
 
Widener is 8-12 in this tournament and is playing its first such game in Ohio since 1977.  It played in the first three NCAA Tournaments, beginning in 1976, and went 2-2 during its 2010 trip.  The Pride twice have fallen one victory shy of the College World Series, 1977 and 1982, and have faced a New Jersey school in eight of its last 10 NCAA games.

 
Mideast Regional Seeds
1. Marietta
2. Case Western Reserve
3. Salisbury
4. Widener
5. La Roche
6. John Carroll
7. Thomas More
8. Penn State Berks
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