FORT PIERCE, Fla. (March 4, 2017) – The Widener University baseball team fell to Monmouth, 8-6, in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon in Florida.
 
Widener captured the lead early, scoring three times in the first and second frames. A single to center field by senior Justin Healey drove in classmate Greg McDonough (Ambler, Pa.), and two more runs came home in the opening frame when sophomore Nick D'Alessandro (Williamstown, N.J.) and Justin Czupryna (Roxbury, N.J.) were plunked by Monmouth hurler Andrew Hardy. After the Fighting Scots scored twice in the bottom of the first, the Pride then collected four hits in the top half of the second and moved ahead by a 6-2 score when sophomore Stephen DeBellis (Marlton, N.J.) singled in Healey.
 
Monmouth (0-1), however, fought back by scoring twice in the third, fifth and eighth frames. Grant Myers most notably blasted a two-run double to right to tie the score up at 6-6 in the fifth, and Nic Stevens drove in two more by singling three innings later to give the Fighting Scots the lead for the first time.
 
The Pride had an opportunity to rally and sent the potential tying run to the plate after senior Nick Enos (Williamstown, N.J.) singled and advanced to second. Reliever Asa Stevenson, however, got out of the jam by inducing a groundout to end the game.
 
Stevenson picked up the victory for Monmouth by throwing four scoreless innings of relief. He only yielded one hit while striking out two and issuing just one walk to begin the spring with a 1-0 ledger. Widener sophomore Bryson Turner was tabbed with the loss after surrendering two runs, which were both earned, and two hits in the eighth frame.
 
Widener (3-1) will return to action when it takes on Kenyon in a twinbill tomorrow at 12 p.m.