BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2

Chester, Pa. (Mar. 30, 2013) – Alvernia University (14-7, 6-3) got a leadoff homer from Leon Stimpson (Philadelphia, Pa./Malvern Prep) and a tremendous outing from junior Mike Weinhold (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) in game one of a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Conference baseball action at Widener.

Alvernia took game one, 2-0, and Widener won game two 11-7.

Stimpson opened the day with his third home run of the season staking the Crusaders to a 1-0 lead.  The guests doubled their lead in the fourth inning when Chris Ray (Exton, Pa./Henderson) was hit by a pitch to start the fourth, took second on a Matt Patterson (Hamilton, N.J./Nottingham) groundout and scored when the Widener third baseman committed an error on a Chris Gehris (Sinking Spring, Pa./Holy Name) grounder.

Weinhold was terrific in his fifth start of the season matching his career high with 11 strikeouts.  He picked up his fifth strikeout of the day to close the fourth inning then struck out the side in both the fifth and sixth innings.  Closer Kevin Becker-Menditto (Walkersville, Md./Fallston) pitched the seventh and worked around a one-out double to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Weinhold reached double figures for the third time in his career.  He struck out 11 in a playoff game vs Elizabethtown as a freshman and struck out 10 in a loss to Neumann University earlier this spring.

Alvernia looked headed for its first 3-game series sweep of the season scoring three runs in the first inning on five hits in game two.  It had a potential fourth run cut down at the plate in the top of the third then the Pride got to Alvernia starter Steve Price (Barto, Pa./Boyertown) for five runs in the bottom of the third.

Price gave up a leadoff single, but picked the runner off first.  The Pride followed with five straight hits to tie the score at 3-3.  Price got a foul pop to first with runners at second and third with one out, but couldn't get out of the inning before giving up a two-run double that put Widener up 5-3.

The Crusaders tied the score at 5-5 on back-to-back RBI singles by Ray and Patterson in the fourth, and took a 7-5 lead in the fifth on a 2-run homer by Brian Witkowski (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame), but the Pride answered with their second crooked number of the day posting six runs in the bottom of the sixth.

They did it on five hits, two walks, and a hit batter against three different Alvernia relievers.

The Crusaders had the tying run on deck in the seventh, but Widener reliever Marc Noyalis closed the game with a fly ball to right and a strikeout.

Alvernia will take Sunday for the Easter holiday then return to action Monday at Johns Hopkins in a rescheduled game.

Game One – Alvernia 2, Widener 0
Game Two – Widener 11, Alvernia 7