AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Clark University baseball team saw its three-run ninth-inning comeback attempt fall just shy on Monday afternoon as the Pride of Widener secured a 10-8 non-conference decision at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

The Basics

Score: Pride 10, Cougars 8

Records: Clark University (3-4) | Widener (3-3)

How it Happened

Senior Dylan Horn (Sterling, Conn.) pushed his hitting streak to four games, recording his fourth consecutive multi-hit game with a 2-for-6 effort at the plate including an RBI. Senior Nick Jordan (Seaford, N.Y.) extended his hitting streak to a career-high seven games while driving in a game-high three RBI including a two-run double.

Junior Chris Radovic (Fairfield, Conn.) swatted a pair of hits and picked up a ribbie while senior Andrew Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) had his third straight multi-hit game to improve his current hitting streak to four games. The Cougars lineup saw seven starters contribute a hit, tallying ten or more hits as a team for the fourth consecutive game. 

Clark's offense was still in a groove from the night before to start the game with the Cougars grabbing an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Senior Derek Lefebvre (Groton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to put a runner aboard before senior Ryan Ruhlin (Portland, Maine) pummeled an RBI double deep to the warning track in left field. One batter later, Radovic followed up, hammering an RBI double of his own to give the Cougars the advantage.

Widener erupted for a six-run third inning to swing the lead over to their side, doing the damage on five hits while making the most of a pair of errors. After an error at first allowed the tying run to cross the plate, the Pride tacked on four more, with a two-run double from Daren Wood preceding RBI singles from Justin Costanzo and Brandon Reis.

The Pride pushed across two more in the top of the sixth with the defense of the Cougars again providing the visitors with opportunities for an 8-2 deficit. Clark got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Jordan bringing in Collin Porter (Brookfield, Conn.) before a single through the infield from Horn brought in Thibault to make it an 8-4 score.

With a 10-4 gap in the seventh, the Cougars began to chip away. Porter, who also drew three walks in the contest, got it started for the host after delivering a two-out RBI double to plate Ruhlin to halve the deficit.

Clark gathered momentum in the bottom of the ninth with three straight walks to James Huber (Rochester, N.Y.), Porter and Thibault providing the spark. With one out, sophomore Andrea Casabianca (Yonkers, N.Y.) rifled a sacrifice liner to center to make it a four-run game. One batter later, Jordan came through for his team, unloading on a two-run double that landed at the base of the fence in left field to bring the tying run to the plate. The Pride was able to settle in with relief pitcher Joey Zettlemoyer forcing a fly-out to secure the 10-8 final and the save.

Sophomore Jafar Vohra (Shelton, Conn.) made his second start of the year, taking the loss to even his record to 1-1 on the young season. The righty was charged for three earned runs on seven hits while striking out four in 5.1 innings of work. Junior Torsten Sloan Anderson (Mohawk Trail, Mass.) recorded 1.1 hitless innings with two walks while senior Cam Smith (Gorham, Maine) tossed one hitless inning of relief with a pair of strikeouts.  

Up Next

The Cougars have an off day tomorrow before returning to action on Wednesday, March 4 when they take on Trine University for a 12:00 PM contest.