PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Arcadia University baseball team faltered in the later stages of both games Sunday against Widener, dropping a pair of Commonwealth Conference games by final scores of 4-3 and 6-5. The Pride improved to 13-11 overall and 7-5 in conference play, while the Knights fell to 12-9 overall and 8-6 in league play.
 
Arcadia jumped out early in the first inning of game-one. Junior Nick Todero was in scoring position after reaching on a fielder's choice and stealing second. Freshman Nick Cardace singled to center field bringing Todero home for the first run of the game and scored himself on sophomore Justin Chasmer's triple to right field, giving Arcadia an early two-run lead.
 
That lead was down to 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, which saw the Knights put runners on first and third base with two away and executed a double-steal that saw freshman Nick Cardace beat the throw back to the plate to reestablish Arcadia's two-run advantage.  
 
Widener drew even by scoring two runs in the top of the sixth off of a senior Matt Scherer single through the left side that brought home a pair of runs in to score, tying the game 3-3. The Pride squeezed out the victory in game-one with sophomore Bob Barnett flying out to center field to bring in freshman Matt Guarino from third for the final run of the game.
 
Widener's sophomore Kyle McKelvy picked up his first win of the season after allowing three runs on six hits over 6.1 innings, making him 1-3 on the season, while _ Robert Barth recorded the final two outs to earn his second save of the year. Arcadia freshman Ryan Ulrich fell to 0-1 on the season after allowing one unearned run in the seventh.
 
Game-two saw the same start for the Knights as they took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Widener left them loaded in the top half of the frame. Senior Tony Yiantsos got scoring position with a lead-off triple down the line in right and scored on classmate Tom Wagner's single up the middle for the first run of the game. The rally continued with Todero's triple center field to score Wagner before crossing the plate himself on Chasmar's RBI-single to left center.
 
Widener got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning as Scherer stepped to the plate and launched a two-run blast over the left field fence to bring the Pride back within one run at 3-2. A series of errors and wild pitches allowed Widener to tie the game in the top of the fourth and then take the lead in the one inning later
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, junior Mike Nessel matched Scherer's two-run homer with one of his own as he crushed a ball that easily cleared the fence in left that also brought in Chasmar, who singled to right to start the frame, and put Arcadia up 5-4.
 
That lead wouldn't last though as the Pride loaded the bases with two away sophomore Christopher Keeser for senior Mike Rytelewski on a pair of walks and a hit batter. Rytelerski drove a single up the middle to put Widener back in front, 6-5, and freshman Josh Lafferty send the Knights down in order in the bottom half of the frame to secure the win for Widener. Lafferty earned the decision after also picking up the final out in the sixth, improving his record to 3-1.
 
The Knights are back in action Monday when they head to Stevenson for a 3:30 p.m. Commonwealth Conference game.