Baseball Moves on to the Finals of the Conference Championship

(box score)

Widener advanced to the Commonwealth Conference Baseball championship round with a 7-5 victory over Messiah on Friday afternoon in York, PA.

After sweeping Messiah last weekend in three straight games, Widener returned to take yet another close game to advance to the championship on Saturday at noon.

Widener (30-11) improves to 2-0 in the conference tournament this year and now has to win one out of two games Saturday in order to be crowned champions for the first time since 2010.

Conference Pitcher of the Year Colin Weiss (Red Hill, PA) threw 8 1/3 innings to improve to 7-0 on the season. Weiss allowed only three earned runs and struck out four batters. Freshman pitcher Nick Donovan (Aston, PA) entered in relief to get Messiah to groundout into a double play and earn his team-leading third save of the season.

Messiah (16-18) led off the game with two early runs when Jacob Sprengle hit a two-run single to second base.

Widener, similar to Thursday against Lebanon Valley, returned with three runs to re-take the lead highlighted by an RBI single from freshman Nicholas Enos (Williamstown, NJ) and a RBI triple from freshman Greg McDonough (Ambler, PA). On the day, McDonough went 2-of-4 with two RBI to lead the Pride.

Widener advanced its lead with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. First team all-conference selection Bob Barnett (Glenolden, PA) hit a triple to deep center field to score fellow first-teamer Michael Elfreth (Washington Twp, NJ) to begin the inning. Elfreth went 2-of-4 with two runs and one walk in the contest.

Junior outfielder Matt Scherer (Havertown, PA) then singled to center field to drive home Barnett from third, followed up by a single from McDonough to score Scherer.

Messiah scored three runs in the seventh highlighted by a two-run single from Zach Brubaker, but it was not enough to overcome the top seeded Pride.

Widener returns to action Saturday in the championships at noon against either Alvernia or Messiah.

Print Friendly Version