Picked dead last in the preseason coaches' poll, a young but hungry Lebanon Valley team is crashing the Commonwealth Conference Championship tournament, being held this weekend at the home of the York Revolution, Santander Stadium.

Tournament Schedule
The tournament is a double-elimination format. All games are nine innings. The home team for games 1-5 is the higher seed; in game 6 it is the winners' bracket team and in game #7 it reverses. The winner received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Thursday, May 1
Game #1: [4] Lebanon Valley vs. [1] Widener, 4 p.m. [Live Stats]
Game #2: [3] Messiah vs. [2] Alvernia, 7 p.m. [Live Stats]

Friday, May 2
Game #3: Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2, 11 a.m. [Live Stats]
Game #4: Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2, 3 p.m. [Live Stats]
Game #5: Winner Game #3 vs. Loser Game #4, 7 p.m. [Live Stats]

Saturday
Game #6: Winner Game #4 vs. Winner Game #5, 12 p.m. [Live Stats]
Game #7: Winner Game #4 vs. Winner Game #5, 3 p.m. (if necessary) [Live Stats]

If You Go
For the first time, the tournament is being held at Santander Stadium, home of the minor league York Revolution. Tickets, available at the gate, are $6 for adults and $3 for students per day.
Stadium Info  |   Parking   |    Directions

The Match-Up
Fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley will take on top-seeded Widener in their first game Thursday at 4 p.m., but the Dutchmen enter the tournament knowing they've beaten every team in the field - and critically, they've beaten all three in nine-inning games, which will be the tournament's format. Corey Cinicola and Austin Hornberger combined to beat Widener in the regular-season 5-2, and LVC won the series thanks to an 8-7 extra-innings win in the doubleheader.

At the Plate
LVC has combined young bats with returning leadership in 2014 to hit .300 as a team. Sophomore transfer Zach Smith leads LVC at .373 with 20 RBI and a team-best 27 runs out of the two-hole, but freshman Zac Edwards has been the top producer over the last month, raising his average to .352 and scoring 19 runs with a move up from the ninth spot to lead-off. Devin Dellinger has been an important addition in the middle of the line-up, hitting a team-best 30 RBI and drawing 16 walks. Those three sandwich around four seniors - Jordan Higgins (.346/.469/.538), Corey Cinicola (.330/.433/.511), Tim Filer (.324/.409/.396), and Mike Specht (.310/.365/.431) - who have all produced big for LVC this spring, along with junior Phill Dohner, who leads the Dutchmen with 27 runs scored.

On the Hill
LVC's hottest arm at the end of the season has been that of freshman Michael Houseal, who is 2-0 with a pair of complete games in his last two starts against Arcadia and Elizabethtown, and he has a staff-best 2.21 ERA this year. Houseal (5-2) leads a trio of freshmen starters along with Casey Wall (2-1, 4.24) and Corey Sell (1-3, 4.28), who have slotted in with Hornberger (2-3, 6.14) and Cinicola (2-1, 4.50) in the rotation. In the bullpen, Patrick Reagan has been LVC's go-to for long relief with a 2.46 ERA, and Jason Barthold (2-3), Jimmie Miller (1 save), and Lee Webber (5 saves) will also be long options. Freshman Mike Wakalowski (3.00) is 2-0 with a save in 10 appearances and has produced through pressure situations this year.