PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The fourth-seeded Arcadia University baseball team scored six times in the bottom of the seventh before holding off a pair of come-back attempts by fifth-seeded Centenary College to record an 8-5 victory in the first round of the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Southeast Championship Tournament Wednesday at Erny Field.
 
The Knights, who are making their first-ever ECAC tournament appearance, improved to 20-14-1 with the win, marking the program's second 20-win season in three years and eighth overall. Arcadia will next take on top-seeded McDaniel College Saturday at noon.
 
Centenary (17-15) held a 4-2 lead after senior Kevin Litus drove in sophomore Nick Daniele with a single up the middle in the top of the seventh before Arcadia's bats came to life in the bottom half of the frame. Senior Andonis Yiantsos delivered the big blow of the inning, driving in a pair of runs after drilling a 1-1 pitch to the gap in right center for a triple and coming around to score on an error by the cutoff man that put the Knights ahead for good, 6-4.
 
Senior Tom Wagner followed by driving a 2-2 pitch to the gap in left for a double before crossing the plate ahead of junior Nick Todero as junior Connor Arsenault drove a single through the middle of the infield to cap the scoring in the inning. Sophomore Justin Chasmar struck out to end the inning after drawing walk to lead off the frame and later scoring on sophomore Jordan Draude's single.
 
Things were far from over though, as Centenary loaded the bases with no outs on a walk and two hit batters to start the top of the eight, but the Cyclones managed just one run in the inning for the 8-5 final. Simpson got senior Dave Raifsnider to strike out looking for the first out of the inning before senior Joe Forcellini scored on an error at second. Simpson then fanned Daniele before getting freshman John Tierney to ground out to second to end the threat and lead the sacks full.
 
Centenary brought the game-tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth with two on and two out in the frame for senior Ryan Caparoni, who drove a sharply hit ball right at junior Steven Zellers to end the game and send Arcadia to the next round.
 
Yiantsos was 1 for 3 with two runs scored and two more driven in from the leadoff spot in the order, while Arsenault finished the day 1 for 4 and drove in three runs. Wagner had the only multi-hit game of the day for Arcadia, going 2 for 3 with a double. Senior Jason Goldberg picked up the win after allowing four runs (two earned) on 10 hits over seven innings of work.
 
Litus finished the day 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Cyclones, while both Daniele and Forcellini were 1 for 5 with a pair of runs scored. Senior Mitchell Renz took the loss after giving up seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in his 6.2 innings of work.