Box score
WEST LAWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College scored eight runs in the top of the fourth inning to erase a 4-1 deficit, then survived a ninth-inning rally to defeat Alvernia University 14-10 in the opening round of the Commonwealth Conference baseball tournament at Owls Field Thursday night.
The third-seeded Blue Jays (23-14 overall), the defending tournament champions, will play fourth-seeded Messiah College (22-16 overall) Friday at 3:00 p.m., after the Falcons defeated top-seeded Widener University 22-10 in Thursday's other opening-round game.
Brian Kiernan went 4-for-6 with three runs batted in and two runs scored while
Anthony Heaps finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in as part of a 15-hit attack for the Blue Jays, and
Adam Hartzell (4-3) allowed six hits and struck out eight in seven innings of work to earn the victory. The Crusaders (32-9 overall), who will face Widener in an elimination game Friday at 11:00 a.m., committed four errors which led to six unearned runs in the loss.
Nole Saylor went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and four runs batted in for the Crusaders, but starter Andrew Kirk (6-2) took the loss as he was touched for five hits and five runs in 3 1/3 innings while walking four.
Elizabethtown trailed 4-1 entering the top of the fourth inning, as Alvernia scored twice in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer by Saylor and two more runs in the third while the Blue Jays managed a third-inning run on a groundout by Kiernan. However, the Blue Jays broke loose in the fourth for eight runs on four hits, three walks and an error to take the lead for good.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases with none out against Crusader starter Andrew Kirk, as
Matt Reade walked, Heaps reached on a single and
Ben Yeager walked. A forceout off the bat of
Jake Hoffstein scored Reade to cut the deficit to 4-2, and a walk to
Rodney Francis reloaded the bases and brought Brian Longo in from the Alvernia bullpen.
Matt Vinagro reached on a error to bring home Heaps and trim the Crusader lead to a run, and
Steve Motika drew a bases-loaded walk to knot the game at 4-4. Kiernan followed with a single to left to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead, and
Dillon Tagle doubled down the left-field line to drive home Motika and Vinagro and push the Blue Jays ahead 7-4. After a foulout, Heaps blooped a double down the left-field line to plate Kiernan and Tagle and cap the eight-run inning.
Alvernia got a run back in the fifth on an RBI double by Saylor, but Elizabethtown tacked on three runs in the sixth on an RBI double by Reade, an RBI single by Heaps and an error to go ahead 12-5. The Blue Jays scored twice more in the ninth on a throwing error and an RBI single by Kiernan, which proved big when the Crusaders pushed across five in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by Saylor and two-run doubles by Steve Bealer and Matt Bruno.
Ryan Barrett came on with the tying run at the plate and struck out Chris Ray on three pitches to finally finish off the win.
Hoffstein went 2-for-5 and scored three runs for the Blue Jays in the win, while Reade finished 2-for-5 and scored twice. Motika and Francis also scored a pair of runs for Elizabethtown.