Reading, Pa. (Apr. 29, 2016) - Nathan Sides went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Matt Backlund threw seven strong innings leading Alvernia University (26-12, 16-3) to a 5-0 win over Arcadia University (21-13-1, 12-7) Friday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth baseball action at Angelica Park.

With the win, the Crusaders locked up the top seed in the conference championships next week in York.  Widener (13-6) and Messiah (12-7) will jockey for the second and third seeds in the tournament and Stevenson (9-10) and Lebanon Valley (8-11) are both still alive for the fourth seed.

Sides drove in two runs on a single in the third that put the hosts up 3-0 then drove in another run in the eighth with a single.  Backlund kept the Knights off the board for seven innings allowing six hits with a pair of strikeouts.

Zack Landy and Antonio Baglivo both threw one scoreless inning each to close the game.  Cameron Coons went 2-for-3 and Ben Dubas and Ian Shaffer scored two runs each.

Alvernia and Arcadia wrap up the three game series with a doubleheader Saturday at Arcadia.  Widener and Messiah play their doubleheader Saturday at Messiah, Stevenson wraps up the regular season with two at Albright, and Lebanon Valley hosts Hood.

Alvernia 5, Arcadia 0