Baseball

Arcadia University 12, Delaware Valley College 11

GLENSIDE (PA) - Arcadia University scored two times in the bottom of the ninth inning to come from behind and defeat Delaware Valley College, 12-11, in the first game of a crucial three-game Freedom Conference series.

The loss drops the Aggies to 24-14 overall and 7-9 in the Freedom Conference. They are now tied with King's College for fifth place in the conference and one game behind both DeSales and Wilkes which are tied for third. Arcadia is alone in second place with a 9-7 league record and it improved to 15-18-1 overall.

The series will now shift to Doylestown for Saturday's regular-season finale - a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m. Delaware Valley can still finish anywhere from second to sixth in the standings, but must place in the top four to qualify for next weekend's Freedom Conference playoffs.

The Aggies battled back from an 8-2, fourth-inning deficit and took an 11-9 lead with two runs in the top of the eighth. Mike Isgro led off the eighth with a triple and Brent Terlecky followed with a walk. Travis Roth then laid down a bunt that scored and moved Terlecky up to second. After another out, Dylan Saldutti doubled to score Terlecky for the two-run advantage.

Arcadia got one back in the bottom of the eighth on a sacrifice fly and were then down to its last out with no one on base in the ninth. However, an Aggie error extended the game and put the tying run on base. John Curreri followed with a double to runners at second and third. Eric Console then delivered a two-run single to give the Knights the victory.

Delaware Valley scored in the opening inning on an RBI single by Kyle Bobb, but Arcadia notched three runs in both the first and third innings for a 6-1 advantage. The Aggies got one back in the fourth on an RBI single by Kellen Jarrett. Arcadia pushed two across in its half of the fourth to extend the lead.

Down 8-2, Delaware Valley used the lone ball to score five times in the fifth inning. Kevin Weingart hit a solo shot for his third home run of the season. The Aggies then loaded the bases and freshman Zach Chodur, the number nine batter, picked the right time for his first collegiate home run as his grand slam made it 8-7.

Arcadia scored once in the bottom of the fifth, but the Aggies tied the game with two in the seventh on RBIs by Jarrett and Bobb. That set the stage for the final two innings and Arcadia's last at-bat heroics.

Chodur finished 3-for-5 with the home run, three runs scored and four RBIs. Saldutti was 4-for-6 with a run scored an RBI while Bobb, Isgro and Zach Jakubowski had three hits apiece. The three hits by Bobb moved the senior first baseman into the top 10 on the all-time list as his 128 hits rank ninth.