Repas' Walk-Off HR Lifts DeSales over Alvernia, 7-6

Senior Nick Repas' walk-off home run on Thursday lifted DeSales over Alvernia.

BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (April 16, 2009) – For the second time this season the DeSales University baseball team earned a win via a walk-off home run as senior Nick Repas (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air) won a 12-pitch battle, hitting his third home run of the season over the right-field fence in the bottom of the ninth inning to propel the Bulldogs past Alvernia University, 7-6, in a Freedom Conference game on a picture perfect day for baseball.

Repas battled to a 3-2 count with several foul balls many of which landed in the right-field bullpen before finally connecting in fair territory, as he smoked a line drive to right-field that cleared the fence by plenty giving DSU a very important Freedom Conference win. DeSales has now won five straight and improves to 18-11 overall and 7-4 in the Freedom Conference, while the Crusaders drop to 17-14 overall and 4-5 in the conference standings.

The Bulldogs controlled play thru the first seven innings leading 6-1 entering the eighth frame when sophomore Travis Hughes (Levittown, PA/Conwell Egan Catholic) uncharacteristically struggled to find the strike zone. After two walks and a bunt base hit, he walked in the second Crusader run of the game before handing the baseball over to junior Joe Walsh (Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills). Walsh gave up a bases-loaded triple and AU tied the game one batter later with a base hit thru a drawn in left-side of the infield and all of a sudden the game was tied at six.

DSU went in order in the eighth for the first time all game but Walsh set aside Alvernia in the top of the ninth setting up Repas' heroics. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single from junior Derek Moyer (Harleysville, PA/Souderton). Alvernia tied it at one in the top of the third but DeSales jumped right back on top with a single run in the bottom of the inning as Moyer doubled and later scored on an RBI base knock from senior Zac Hess (Harleysville, PA/LaSalle).

DSU tacked on two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings when junior Doc Neiman (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) singled home two runs and in the sixth sophomore Carson Slonaker (East Greenville, PA/Perkiomen School) slugged his second triple of the game plating sophomore Mike Newland (Frenchtown, NJ/Delaware Valley) and later scored on an RBI groundout from senior Mike Bianca (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. St. Joseph).

DeSales held down the Crusaders heading into the eighth inning as senior James Niesuchouski (Chester, VT/St. Dominic) and sophomore Alex Brown (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame) each tossed three solid innings. Newland had a terrific day at the plate going 4-for-5 with two runs scored, Slonaker had two triples and one RBI, Moyer had two base hits and one RBI, and Repas finished with multiple hits and the game-winning RBI. Walsh earned his third win of the season pitching 1.2 innings allowing two hits and one run, while fanning two.

The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Alvernia University for the second game of the regular season series with the Crusaders beginning at 3:30 pm. The game is scheduled to be Webcast online. A link will be posted on the baseball schedule page when it is made available on Friday morning.

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