GARNET VALLEY, Pa. – Offensive troubles plagued the Ursinus College baseball team in Saturday's season-opening doubleheader, dooming the Bears to a pair of losses opposite Widener at Maplezone Sports Institute.

Widener (2-0) picked up a 2-1 victory in Game One before a 7-2 verdict in Game Two sealed the sweep.

A 4-of-24 effort at the plate spoiled a strong pitching performance in the opener. Ursinus (0-2) got four innings of one-run ball from senior Sean Pisik, who gave way to junior Seth Regensburg for the final two-plus frames. The left-hander got through the fifth and sixth unscathed, but Josh Petrongolo led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off home run down the right-field line, delivering the Pride a 2-1 victory.

The Bears took an early lead when junior Jose Colon led off the top of the second with a single before stealing second and third with one out. Classmate Vincent Terry's sacrifice fly to right scored Colon with the season's first run. Widener pulled even on an RBI single by Nicholas Enos in the bottom half, but Timo Muro gunned down a runner trying to score to prevent the Pride from pulling ahead.

The teams traded empty frames before Petrongolo's heroics put a swift end to a well-played contest. Kyle McKelvy went the distance for the Pride, striking out eight without a walk.

Senior Christopher Jablonski had half of the Bears' hits, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base. In addition to Colon, junior Jay Farrell recorded the other base knock.

Widener broke open the nightcap with a four-run fourth. Tied at 1 after sophomore Travis Kozak's run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the third, the Pride made use of a two-out error to put up a crooked number. After a walk, Michael Elfreth's 2-run double staked Widener to another lead, and a two-run single by Justin Healey polished off the big inning.

Jablonski led off the fifth with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by junior Austin Kurey, but the Pride tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.

Junior Lou Aikins surrendered four runs in 3.2 innings, but only one was earned; he struck out three and walked four in his first career start. Senior Vince Piccioni handled the final three frames, allowing two runs on five hits with a trio of strikeouts.

Freshman Carter Usowski went 2-for-3 at the dish for Ursinus, which was 5-of-22 in Game Two.

Josh Lafferty tossed six strong innings to pick up the win for Widener, which got a double, a triple, and two RBI from Elfreth.  

The Bears head south for a ten-game Spring Break swing in Florida, starting with a twin bill against Wentworth on Sunday, March 6.