WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 18, 2016) – The Widener baseball team was unable to fight off a late rally as they fell to #11 La Roche in the opening game of the NCAA Mideast Regional Tournament on Wednesday at Ross Memorial Park.
The Red Hawks scored four runs in the last two innings to earn the 7-6 victory over the Blue and Gold.
The Pride opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Greg McDonough (Ambler, Pa.) reached on a walk and moved to third base on a hit-and-run by Bob Barnett (Glenolden, Pa.). With runners on first and third, Shane Roebuck could not hold onto to a pitch from Tanner Wilt, which allowed McDonough to score.
La Roche didn't wait long to get the bats started as they put two runs on an RBI double to right field by Luis Navedo. Josh Lafferty (Pottstown, Pa.) was able to get out of jam as Joe Professori grounded into a fielder's choice to Justin Healey (Ocean City, N.J.). The second baseman went to Nicholas Enos (Williamstown, N.J.) to try to turn a double play, but David Lemley made an attempt to break-up the double play. Lemley was called out on the play as he interfered the attempted throw by Enos.
Kyle Lowery (Norristown, Pa.) and Glenn Seymour (Eagleville, Pa.) reached base with one out for Michael Elfreth (Washington Township, N.J.). The junior third baseman delivered a double to the wall in left center field making it easy for Lowery and Seymour from first.
Lafferty was able to put a zero on the board for the Red Hawks in the bottom of the second inning.
Enos led the top of the third inning with a walk and would move to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nick D'Alessandro (Williamstown, N.J.). The junior would score on an RBI bloop single over the third baseman Lemley by freshman Stephen DeBellis (Marlton, N.J.). The Blue and Gold were heard scoreless in the fourth inning as McDonough was stranded on third base.
After getting striking out Taylor Huber to lead off the bottom of fourth inning, Lafferty allowed a single up the middle to Roebuck. The righty would get the number nine hitter Tyler Craig to ground into 6-4-3 double play.
Colin Williamson led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to the left field corner. The senior advanced to third on a wild pitch by Lafferty. After fighting off a few pitches, Corey Lazor roped a single to right field to score Williamson from third base. Lazor would be picked off on a pitch in the dirt as Seymour threw down to Lowery for the final out of the inning.
Seymour would lead of the sixth inning with a six pitch walk. He would move over to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Elfreth, and stay there as McDonough was hit by a pitch for the second time this year. Barnett would ground into a fielder's choice leaving runners on first and third for Healey.
Seymour would score on an RBI single by Healey as he picked up his first hit of the NCAA Regional. The Pride would take the field in the bottom of the sixth inning with a 6-3 lead. Lafferty would allow one hit to the Red Hawks, but he did not advance as the righty forced Roebuck into a fielder's choice.
D'Alessandro led the top of the seventh inning with a walk, and would advance to second on a single by Lowery. Seymour moved the runners up a base with a single to right center field. Brady Hamer struck to get the next two batters as Widener left the bases loaded.
The Red Hawks would have two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lafferty would get Ben Herstine to ground into a fielder's choice as Elfreth tagged the bag to end the inning.
The Pride would get runners on in the top of the eighth inning as Healey bunted the ball down the third base line for a single. The junior would advance to second base on a single by Enos to right field. The one out threat would come to an end as D'Alessandro bunted into a double play.
La Roche would cut into the lead as they scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Elliot Snyder (Mountain Top, Pa.) would come on to relieve Lafferty with runners on first and third inning. Roebuck knocked an RBI double down the left field line for the first run of the inning, and a single by Williamson up the middle. Lafferty would allow five runs and 15 hits in seven plus innings of work on the hill. The sophomore righty struck out four and walked a pair as he earned a no decision in the game.
DeBellis led off the top of the ninth inning with a five pitch walk. The freshman designated hitter moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lowery, but was left on base. Widener left 13 runners on base in the game as they collected ten hits.
Kyle McKelvy (Collegeville, Pa.) entered the ninth inning out of the bullpen. The Red Hawks would tie the game up with one out on an RBI single by Lemley. The third baseman would score the winning run on a ground-rule double to left center field by Professori. McKelvy would receive the loss on the hill after allowing two runs in the final frame.
Widener and La Roche met earlier in the year as the Red Hawks took both meetings. The Pride fell 5-3 and 17-12 in two games played during the trip to Fort Pierce, Fla.
Widener will play Ohio Wesleyan tomorrow at Ross Memorial Park in an elimination game. First pitch against the fifth seed is set for 10:00 a.m.
