READING, Pa. — Alvernia turned a scoreless game upside down with a six-run third inning, and then went on to score seven more to defeat the Elizabethtown College baseball team 13-0 at Angelica Park Friday afternoon.

Hitting over .400 coming into the game, Crusader Chris Ray added another base hit to his season total one out into the third to start what would become Alvernia's (22-9-1, 11-2 CC) biggest inning of the contest.

Kevin Bailey and Aaron Carman found holes in the E-town defense for RBI singles that put the Crusaders up a pair. Later in the frame, right fielder Brian Witkowski cleared the bases with a three-run triple. Witkowski also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth to complete a 4-RBI day.

Alvernia wasn't done with the third just yet, as Nole Saylor followed Witkowski with another triple that scored his aforementioned teammate from third.

Elizabethtown's offense couldn't come up with the same fortune against Alvernia starter Andrew Kirk. E-town got five singles in the game from five different players. Steve Motika, Matt Reade, Mike Stobbe, Dillon Tagle and Brian Verdelli were the Jays (17-16, 7-6 CC) fortunate enough to get themselves on base.

Kirk, 3-0 with a 3.89 earned run average coming in, lowered that by pitching eight scoreless innings. He gave up four hits and struck out seven. Kirk did not walk a batter, nor did his replacement Rich Collins. Collins allowed a ninth-inning pinch hit single to Stobbe, but quickly got Tim Rosser to ground into a double play, before Luke Gatti grounded out to shortstop to end it.

Three pitchers took turns on the hill for the Jays, but none were able to slow Alvernia's 19-hit attack. Ray and first baseman Matt Patterson each finished with three hits, while five other Crusaders had at least two hits.

The Crusaders, knocked out of last year's conference championships by the Blue Jays, shut E-town out for just the fourth time this season in 33 games.

E-town will get two more shots at the their conference foes tomorrow morning beginning at 10 a.m.