ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Elizabethtown College starting pitcher Matt Ruth was superb for a second straight outing Tuesday afternoon in a Commonwealth Conference baseball game against Widener. The sophomore tossed 6.2 innings and struck out eight, but errors in the seventh inning led to a five-spot for the Pride and eventually a 12-3 win at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium.

Ruth was helped out early by runs in each of the first two innings. Kyle Gable led off the bottom of the first with a double and Andrew Gordon followed with a walk. Steve Motika would then sacrifice both runners up a bag, before Matt Reade drove in Gable on a groundout.

Widener went down in order against Ruth in the second, and Elizabethtown (6-9, 1-2 Commonwealth) took advantage once again. This time it was Anthony Heaps starting the inning off with a double to left field. The two-bagger was Heaps team-leading eighth of the season. Pat Mulligan had the honors of moving Heaps along to third, doing so with the Blue Jays' second sacrifice bunt in as many innings. The next batter, Kevin Berkheiser, singled past Widener second baseman Alex Oliver and into right field to plate Heaps for a 2-0 lead.

The two runs given to Ruth looked like they would hold up, as the York Suburban product cruised along. Heaps made sure the two-run lead stayed in tact in the top of the third when he threw out Tom DeAngelis at the plate with a laser of a throw that was right on the money to Motika.

Ruth ran into a bit of a hiccup in the fifth when catcher Dennis Hocker led off with a solo home run to left field to cut E-town's lead in half. The Pride (15-6, 4-2) wouldn't threaten again in the inning, however, as Ruth sat them down in order following the homer.

E-town took its 2-1 lead to the top of the seventh, but that is when things started to go south for the homestanding Jays. Hocker reached on an error by Ian Smith at third and Tom Mahoney drew a free pass to first with one out after he was plunked by a Ruth offering. The right-handed Ruth got DeAngelis to ground into a fielder's choice for the second out and was nearly out of the inning, but Oliver singled down the left field line to tie the game at two and chase Ruth from the ballgame.

Oliver was a thorn in E-town's side all afternoon. The senior came up with clutch at-bats like a veteran should and it propelled his team to the victory. Oliver finished the game 4-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. He reached base in each of his six plate appearances.

Zack Mills relieved Ruth, but Widener tacked on four more runs on three RBI singles and an error. None of the runs in the inning were earned for Ruth, but he ultimately suffered the loss in falling to 1-1 on the season. His final line was 6.2 innings pitched, six hits allowed, four runs given up (one earned), two walks and eight strikeouts.

His opposer, Rick Kazigian, was just as solid for the visiting Pride. After giving up the two runs in consecutive innings to begin the game, Kazigian settled down to turn in an impressive performance. He went 7.2 innings, scattering seven hits, walking three and striking out six.

Oliver's RBI double in the eighth extended the Pride's lead to 7-3 and Widener added five more in the ninth on the strength of home runs to left by Dan Sieracki and DeAngelis.

Tyler Clark drove in Elizabethtown's third and final run in the bottom of the eighth with a pinch-hit single to right center.

Widener's one through four hitters were responsible for most of the damage Tuesday. DeAngelis, Oliver, Sean Saverio and Sieracki combined to go 10-for-18 with seven runs scored and seven runs batted in.

Gable (2-for-5) and Heaps (2-for-4) picked up half of the Blue Jays' eight hits.

Elizabethtown dropped the season series to Widener 2-1 after being swept in five games against the Pride last season. The Jays get right back at it tomorrow afternoon when they host Susquehanna in a non-conference nine-inning game at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.