GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
Sat. March 15, 2008 (Reading, PA) – The Crusaders swept Gwynedd-Mercy this afternoon on their home field in what proved to be two close games. Alvernia took game one in the bottom of the ninth inning 5-4 and won game two in the bottom of the seventh inning 6-5. Dale Curry (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) was 2-for-4 on the day with four walks, four RBIs and a game-tying home run in the second game.
The first game of the afternoon was a back and forth affair that eventually saw Alvernia take the game 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning when Chris Stoudt (West Lawn, PA/Governor Mifflin) hit a solid grounder down the left field line that was misplayed by the Griffin third basemen allowing James Geosits (Wyomissing, PA/Wilson) to score.
The Crusaders opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning when freshman Tim Ahlquist (Millville, NJ/Millville) hit an RBI single to bring in Eric Focht (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) who had reached on a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The Griffins answered with two runs in their half of the fourth inning when Mark Mattes connected for a two-RBI single up the middle. They would add one more in the top of the fifth inning when the lead-off batter was hit by a pitch and came around to score on an error by Crusader second basemen Focht.
Alvernia entered the bottom of the sixth inning down 3-1 and quickly rallied to even the score at three apiece. Curry lead off the inning with a single and Steve Burdan (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) followed with a double to left center field. Curry came around to score the first run of the inning on an error by the Griffin second basemen and Burdan scored on a fielder's choice from Steve DeBarberie (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner) to tie the game at three.
Both teams added a run in the seventh inning to force the game into extra innings. The Crusaders finally came out on top in the bottom of the ninth inning when Chris Stoudt (West Lawn, PA/Governor Mifflin) hit a solid grounder down the left field line that was misplayed by the Griffin third basemen allowing James Geosits (Wyomissing, PA/Wilson) to score.
Shane Zellers (Wiconso, PA/Williams Valley) pitched five innings and gave up only one earned run and Andrew Long (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) came in and pitched two perfect innings to secure the win for Alvernia.
Game two saw both teams put two runs on the board in the first inning. The Griffins managed theirs off of three straight singles to open the inning, followed by a walk and a fielder's choice. The Crusaders evened the score in their half of the inning when both Tim Carroll (Bensalem, PA/Conwell-Egan) and Ahlquist connected for singles. Carrol came around to score on a wild pitch and Ahlquist tied the game on a fielder's choice from Stoudt.
The Griffins added another run in the fifth inning and Alvernia quickly answered with one of their when Reid Martin (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) drilled one over the left field fence for a home run to bring the score to 5-3 for Gwynedd-Mercy. Alvernia tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-out two-run homerun from Curry. Alvernia loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and Curry drew the game winning walk to finish the sweep of Gywnedd-Mercy.
Alvernia will take on Misericordia University on March 24th at 12:00 pm.
Alvernia 5, Gwynedd-Mercy 4
Alvernia 6, Gwynedd-Mercy 5
