CHESTER, Pa. – The Albright baseball team split a road doubleheader against Widener on Sunday afternoon in MAC Commonwealth play. The Lions rebounded from an 8-2 defeat in game one to defeat the Pride 13-11 in game two.
 
With the split, the Lions move to 2-12 on the season overall and 2-10 in MAC Commonwealth play. Meanwhile, the Pride move to 13-9 overall and 10-8 in conference play.
 
GAME ONE
Following a scoreless first inning, junior first baseman Josh Jacavage led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball.  Jacavage then came around to score in the next at bat when senior outfielder Brandon Daubert reached on a fielding error by the Pride shortstop. The Lions loaded the bases with no outs, but were unable to score another run in the inning. Widener looked to respond in the bottom of the second after putting runners on second and third with one out. Senior starting pitcher Will Tokarski struck the next two Pride batters out to end the threat. However, the Pride were able to take its first lead of the game in the bottom of the third after scoring three runs with two outs. The Pride continued to find success with two outs in the bottom of the fourth as they added to their lead with two runs on three hits to go up 5-1. Widener once again used a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth as they went up 6-1 on a single. Daubert led off the top of the sixth inning with a double to right field, and advanced to third after sophomore catcher Austin Gromlich singled. Gromlich, however, was thrown out at second trying to leg out a double. Following a strikeout, senior outfielder Jakob Fry drove in Daubert with a RBI single through the left side. The Pride responded by scoring two runs from the first three batters to take an 8-2 lead. Widener retired the Lions in order during the top of the seventh to seal the win.
 
GAME TWO
Widener took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a home run and a triple with two outs.  Following a scoreless third inning, the Lions bats came alive in the top of the fourth as they scored 11 runs on 10 hits, and took advantage of three Pride errors. Junior third baseman Nick Sklenarik and junior catcher Dylan Harlos opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Sklenarik came around to score after a throwing error. Daubert loaded the bases after reaching first on a bunt single, and junior outfielder Will Algard tied the game at two with a RBI single through the left side. Sophomore first baseman Josh Halye followed by roping a two-run double to centerfield to put the Lions up 4-2. After a pop out in the next at-bat, first-year second baseman Eddie Meredith doubled to left center to score two more runs and put the Lions up 6-2. Senior shortstop Jimmie Gentry continued the Lions run outburst with a RBI single that drove home Meredith, making it a 7-2 game. Sklenarik doubled home Gentry in his second at-bat in the inning, and came around to score one at-bat later when Harlos doubled to left field to make it 9-2. Albright added two more runs with two outs to bring the score to 11-2 after Algard recorded his second RBI single of the inning, and Daubert scored on a throwing error. Albright sent 15 batters to the plate in the top of the fourth, and scored the most runs in a single inning since scoring 15 against Valley Forge in 2012. Widener began to chip away at the deficit as they scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it an 11-4 game. Albright looked to get a run back in the top of the fifth as they put runners on first and third with one out. Unfortunately for the Lions, Sklenarik flied into a double play after Fry was thrown out at home plate trying to score. Widener put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the fifth before sophomore pitcher Willie Kimmel III worked out of the jam with two-straight fly outs. The Pride added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 11-6 game. Fry responded in the top of the seventh for the Lions as he smashed a two-run home run to left field to put the Lions up 13-6. However, the Pride refused to go away as they scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the lead down to 13-9. Widener added a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 13-10 before pulling within two runs at 13-11 in the bottom of the ninth with one out. With the tying run at the plate and runners on first and third, Jacavage forced a double play to end the game.
 
Gentry went 3-of-5 in game two with one RBI and one run scored, while three Lions each recorded two hits. Algard went 2-of-5 with two RBIs plus one run scored, and Sklenarik went 2-of-4 from the plate with one RBI and two runs scored. Harlos went 2-of-5 with one RBI and two runs scored, while Fry, Meredith, and Hayle each tallied two RBI's. Kimmel earned the win in relief after allowing four earned runs on five hits between three innings of work. Joey Zettlemoyer suffered the loss after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings. Zettlemoyer entered the game with the lowest ERA in the MAC Commonwealth at 1.32. Tokarski suffered the loss in game one after allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Alex Zilli earned the win for the Pride in game one after allowing just one unearned run on two hits in four innings of work with four strikeouts.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, April 24^th as they will host Alvernia on Senior Day for its final home doubleheader of the 2021 regular season at 12 p.m.