BOX SCORE
Quakertown, PA (May 2, 2008) – Junior Greg Treat (Concord, NH/Concord) laced an RBI single into right centerfield in the bottom of the ninth inning lifting the DeSales University baseball team past Arcadia University, 5-4, in the opening round of the Freedom Conference playoffs on Friday evening at Quakertown Memorial Park.
The Bulldogs (22-18-1 overall) advance to play the top seeded Manhattanville College Valiants in the second round of the double elimination tournament on Saturday at 2:30 pm. The first game of the day will feature the first elimination game as Delaware Valley College will take on Arcadia University at 11:00 am, with the loser eliminated from the tournament. The winner of the second game at 2:30 will advance to Sunday's championship game, while the winner of the first game on Saturday will take on the loser of the second game at 6:00 pm.
Arcadia took an early 2-0 lead on Friday evening plating single runs in the second and fourth inning. DSU responded in the fourth when sophomore Derek Moyer (Harleysville, PA/Souderton) came up big with a two-out RBI double into left centerfield tying the game at two.
DeSales took a 4-2 lead in the fifth when junior Zac Hess (Harleysville, PA/LaSalle) hit his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot into right field plating freshman Mike Newland (Frenchtown, NJ/Delaware Valley). After a scoreless sixth inning, the Knights re-tied the game at four in the top of the seventh when Ken Spangenberg hit a two-run, two-out double into left-center field plating two AU players and tying the game at four.
A scoreless eighth inning moved the game to the ninth inning where it seemed as though AU's Austin Ley had given the visitor's a 6-4 advantage when he sent a long fly ball to right field but the wind knocked it down and the Bulldogs' senior Andrew Heard (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield) made the inning ending catch on the warning track.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, DSU had runners on first and second with one out when sophomore Andrew Feher (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) sent a hard line drive into left field for a base hit and as sophomore Ryan Blacker (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) was waved home by head coach Tim Neiman with the winning run, the Knight's left fielder, Anthony Champi threw a perfect strike in the air to home plate to get Blacker with the second out of the inning.
On the play a heads up Hess advanced to third base putting the winning run just 90 feet away as Treat stepped to the plate and smoked a line drive single to right-center field plating Hess and giving DSU its first opening round win in the last three years in the Freedom Conference playoffs.
Senior Mike Concilio (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) was outstanding out of the bullpen on Friday night earning his first win of the season pitching 2.1 innings of no-hit baseball, walking one and striking out four. Hess finished with one hit, two RBI's, two runs scored and two walks and Feher had three hits and a run scored. Treat had two hits, a run scored and an RBI, while Moyer, junior Matt Connors (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) and Heard each had two hits in the win.
