Box Score

MARIETTA, Ohio — Widener junior pitcher Rob Barth doesn't light up the radar gun, but when he is on his game watch out.

You don't need to tell the LaRoche players, as the Redhawks struggled to figure him out during the first game of the 2014 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at Don Schaly Stadium Wednesday.

Barth scattered seven hits in his first regional game and Widener (32-11) cruised to an 8-1 victory and will face Marietta, a 14-2 winner over Penn State-Berks, Thursday.

"Rob was outstanding. He was locating his pitches, kept them off balance and they are a very aggressive swinging team and he was able to set them up with off-speed pitches," said Widener coach Mike LaRosa. "This is exactly what we expected because this is how he has been throwing for us all season."

LaRoche coach Chase Rowe was singing Barth's praises.

"What's he throw 82 or 84 (miles per hour)?" Rowe said. "It doesn't matter with a guy like that. He keeps you off balance and he hits spots."

The only real blemish on Barth's performance came in the second inning when Colin Fiekles singled and scored on John Watson's triple. The Redhawks (30-14) didn't manage another serious threat against Barth, who was also aided by two double plays.

"What worked was my offspeed stuff," said Barth (7-1), who throws a fastball, curveball and slider. "I was getting ahead in the count and they couldn't sit dead red. Also we turned some double plays when they got guys on and that was huge for us."

An early lead helped alleviate any early pressure the Pride players may have felt as they were all playing in their first NCAA Regional.

Widener jumped on La Roche pitcher Cole Lentz (8-3) immediately by scoring three runs on three hits. Freshman Michael Elfreth led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored on senior Michael Riverso's double to left center. Riverso scored on freshman Nicholas Enos' single, which also resulted in a throwing error by La Roche catcher Matt Sabatini that allowed junior Matt Scherer to score.

Scherer went 2-for-3 and scored four runs. The left fielder also hit a solo home run in the third inning.

"That's pretty awesome," Scherer said. "I think we showed everyone we can play … that we're actually a competitive team."

Widener also added a run in the third, two in the fifth and one in both the seventh and eighth innings. Shortstop Nicholas Enos went 2-for-3 with three RBI, while centerfielder Sam Christie and catcher Paul Shepherd also added two hits for the Pride.

LaRosa was excited with what he saw from his "inexperienced" team.

"It takes a little pressure off. It's nice to know we can sit around knowing we don't play until 4:30 tomorrow, and it helps with our confidence," said LaRosa, the Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year. "Now we can just go out and focus on tomorrow."

Fiekles was the only LaRoche hitter to have any real success against Barth. He had three singles.

Rowe is confident his team can rebound from the early loss.

"We'll be fine. We have pitching depth," he said. "When we get into (third and fourth pitchers) we feel our 3s and 4s are as good as anyone in the tournament."

LaRoche will play Penn State-Berks in the loser's bracket at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

LaRoche will face the loser Game 2 at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.