Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Arcadia University's baseball team pulled out a 6-5 victory over visiting Alvernia University in game-one of a conference doubleheader  after senior Elliott Freeman (Bangor, Pa.) perfectly placed a fly ball past Alvernia's diving left fielder for a two-run double and the game winner in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Knights would however fall in game-two to the Crusaders by a score of 17-1 to split the Senior Day doubleheader at Erny Field.

Arcadia finishes up their Commonwealth Conference play with a record of 6-15 and moves to 8-25-1 overall on the year with the split. Alvernia finishes with a 14-7 conference mark and moves to a 25-11 overall record.

The Knights were held scoreless for the first four innings and carried a three-run deficit all the way through to the bottom of the fifth until an error by Alvernia's third baseman on a sacrifice bunt attempt allowed senior Jay Zehring (Manassas, Va.) to score. A few batters later, Arcadia would tie up the game at three apiece after a two-out two-run single off of the bat of junior Andonis Yiantsos (Voorhees, N.J.) plated sophomore George Pagan (Old Bridge, N.J.) and senior Taylor Schon (Scotch Plains, N.J.).

However, Alvernia retook the lead in the very next half after a passed ball with bases loaded followed by a sacrifice fly pushed across two for the Crusaders to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

In the sixth, the Knights cut down the Crusaders' lead in half after singles from Freeman, freshman Justin Chasmar (Barnegat, N.J.), and a walk from Zehring loaded the bases, which gave way to Schon who grounded into a fielder's choice, but allowed Freeman to score from third. Arcadia had a chance to tie the game or move ahead, but left two runners in scoring position to end the inning.

The seventh inning proved to be a real thriller as the Knights held Alvernia scoreless in the top half and would go on to win the game in the bottom portion. Senior Brian Innella (Commack, N.Y.) got the ball rolling with a single up the middle to lead off the frame. Sophomore Steven Zellers (Ocean City, N.J) took Innella's place on the base path and advanced to second on a productive groundout from senior David Jacobs (Havre de Grace, Md.) in the very next at-bat. Then a single from Yiantsos made it first and third with only one out and the winning run standing on first base, which gave way to Freeman who placed a fly ball just out of reach of the left fielder and allowed Zellers and Yiantsos to score to claim the 6-5 walk-off victory.

Freeman finished the game 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and the two crucial game-winning RBIs. Yiantsos led the Knights going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Chasmar also chipped in with a two-hit game.

Sophomore Michael Nessel (Stuart, Fla.) threw 5.2 innings on the mound to start the game for the Knights, but would not factor into the decision after allowing five runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts. The win was credited to senior Robert Worrell (West Chester, Pa.) after tossing the final 1.1 innings in relief and shutting down the Alvernia offense, giving up just one hit, while fanning two to earn his first win of the season.

Junior Kevin Becker-Menditto (Frederick, Md.) suffered the loss for the Crusaders after surrendering two runs and the lead in the bottom of the seventh to drop his record to 1-2 on the year.

The Knights hung right with Alvernia for the first five innings of game-two, as the score was only 3-1 in favor of the Crusaders entering the sixth.

Alvernia got on the board first in the top of the second after leading off the frame with a single and two walks to load the bases followed by a two-run single from sophomore Chris Burns (Cherry Hill, N.J.). Another RBI single a few batters later made it a 3-0 lead, and Alvernia would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

In the third, the Knights scored their only run of the game to cut Alvernia's lead to two. Yiantsos powered a shot to the right center fence for a double, but got thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple, which ended the inning. Junior Tom Wagner (Somerdale, N.J.) barely crossed home before the third out was recorded, so the run did go up on the board for the Knights.

The Crusaders proceeded to run away with the game in the sixth and seventh innings, adding 14 runs between the final two innings of the contest.
Senior David Behler (Lehighton, Pa.) took the loss on the mound for game-two for Arcadia, dropping his record to 1-2 on the year, after surrendering seven runs on six hits and three walks in his 5.2 innings of work. For Alvernia, junior Zach Nadolny (Sparks, Md.) picked up his third win of the year after tossing six innings and striking out eight while only giving up one run on five hits and two walks.

Today marked the baseball team's Class of 2014's last home games of their collegiate careers at Erny Field. Between games, the Knights honored their seniors in a short ceremony, recognizing their accomplishments over the past four seasons. The 11 Knights included Behler, Freeman, Jordan Hofferman (Elkins Park, Pa.), Brandon Horetsky (Oak Ridge, N.J.), Innella, Jacobs, Patrick Kwiatkowski (Bensalem, Pa.), Jack Nazarewycz (Philadelphia, Pa.), Schon, Worrell, and Zehring.

The next game for Arcadia will be tomorrow when the Knights travel to Neumann University for a 1 p.m. non-conference game.