FREDERICK, Md. - The Widener baseball team qualified for the MAC Commonwealth Tournament after coming away with a split against Hood in their conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.
The Pride scored a 12-1 victory over the Blazers in the first game, but the Blazers came back to win the second game by a 4-3 count.
The Pride finished the regular season with a 20-18 record and a 9-7 mark in MAC Commonwealth play to qualify for the conference tournament for the ninth time in 10 seasons. The Pride earned the fourth seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST HOOD IN GAME 1
- With the game tied at 1 through five innings, the Pride pounded on the Blazers for six runs in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead. Anthony Boccio had an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch for the first two runs, then Nick Barenz hit a grand slam.
- In the ninth, the Pride scored five more runs to put an exclamation point on the win. Aaron Nuble hit a two-run home run and Justin Costanzo smacked a solo homer for the Pride to highlight the Pride's inning. Costanzo's homer was his 14th home run of the season and put him one homer away from tying the Widener single-season record.
- Barenz led the Pride at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with his grand slam and two runs scored
- Joey Norton picked up a complete-game win on the mound, allowing only one earned run on five hits while striking out five for his fourth victory of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED AGAINST HOOD IN GAME 2
- The Pride went back and forth against the Blazers throughout the game. The Pride grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Barenz RBI single. Then, in the fourth, the Blazers scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
- In the top of the fifth, the Pride tied the game at 2 after Kyle Brex scored on a wild pitch. But, the Blazers scored a run in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-2 advantage.
- In the ninth, Widener tied the game again after Brex scored on a Hood throwing error. However, Hood wonthe game by hitting a walk-off RBI single.
- Jason Morgan paced the Pride at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
UP NEXT
The Pride will be back in action Tuesday when they host Messiah in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament quarterfinals. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
