Box Score
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Kyle Orensky was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in, including the game-winning RBI in the sixth inning, and Jordan Lehman pitched a complete-game as 13th-ranked West Chester University held off Slippery Rock, 7-6, in the first round of the PSAC baseball postseason tournament at historic Point Park on a chilly Wednesday afternoon.
West Chester (36-10) advances to the winner’s bracket of the tournament and will play California (Pa.) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Cal defeated Mansfield, 6-5, in the first game of the day on Wednesday. Slippery Rock (25-22) falls into the loser’s bracket and will play an elimination game against Mansfield on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m.
Orensky doubled home Joe Wendle with the game-winning run with one out in the sixth inning, after Wendle had reached on a fielding error by The Rock’s pitcher. Lehman (6-0) took things from there.
The sophomore righty allowed just one run over the final seven innings, keeping Slippery Rock at bay after a difficult start. The Rock put up four runs in the top of the first inning and added another in the second to take a 5-4 lead, after squandering their four-run advantage in the bottom of the first.
Lehman threw 131 pitches, 76 for strikes, in his nine-inning complete game. It was his longest outing of the year and the first nine-inning complete game thrown by a West Chester pitcher since Jason Bowman went the distance against Mercyhurst in the Atlantic Regionals last spring. Lehman allowed six runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out six.
Orensky was the catalyst in the Golden Rams’ big first inning when the defending champs erased a four-run deficit to knot things up at four after one. His two-run double cut Slippery Rock’s lead in half. Charlie Kelly then tripled home two more runs to bring West Chester all the way back.
Kelly finished 2-for-4 with four RBI. He also stole two bases, giving him 30 on the season. He is just the second Golden Rams player to steal 30 bases in a campaign. Kelly is six swipes behind Al Angelo’s school record, which has stood since 1978. Kelly now has 59 career steals and is third all-time on West Chester’s all-time list.
Kelly’s two-run single in the bottom of the fourth put West Chester on top, 6-5, briefly. Slippery Rock tied the contest with a single tally in the fifth.
Zach Jeney started the game on the hill for Slippery Rock, but lasted just one-third of an inning, surrendering four runs on three hits. Joby Lapkowicz (2-5) went the rest of the way for The Rock, yielding just one earned run on five hits. He walked five and struck out five. But, more importantly, saved the rest of Slippery Rock’s bullpen for later in the double-elimination tournament.
Jamison Walck was 3-for-4 with two RBI for Slippery Rock at the plate while Mitchell Monas was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Monas doubled in The Rock’s first two runs of the game in the first inning. After an RBI single from Adam Jury, Walck tripled to make it a 4-0 ballgame in Slippery Rock’s first at bats.
West Chester baseball fans can catch all the action from Point Park tomorrow afternoon on the internet at RLM Sports (click here). Join Bob Michaels as he takes you pitch-by-pitch through the Thursday’s game with Cal. West Chester and Cal are tentatively set to begin at 3:30 p.m. Live stats will also be available courtesy of the PSAC and Shippensburg University (click here).
