Box Score
WEST LAWN, Pa. - Second-seeded and 15th-ranked West Chester University broke open a tight ballgame with four runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning en route to a 9-6 victory over fifth-seeded Manfield in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Atlantic Regional Baseball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park.
West Chester (37-12) got a two-run double from Nick Spisak and a two-run single from Kyle Orensky in the fateful eighth to turn a 4-3 lead into a 9-3 cushion against Mansfield (32-19). The Mountaineers countered with a three-run ninth, eventually getting to Rams starting pitcher Jordan Lehman. However, Joe Opalka came on to shut the door and squelch Mansfield's last-ditch attempt at a comeback.
The Golden Rams drew six walks and had three batters hit by pitch against Mountaineers starter Bernard Johnson (6-4). Mansfield's righty threw all eight innings in the longest outing of his career. He yielded nine runs on 11 hits. Three of the Golden Rams' first four runs were scored on bases loaded walks while another crossed on a sacrifice fly to left by Kevin McGrath.
Spisak, who was plunked in each of his first two at bats, plated the first run of the game during a two-run third inning after being hit in the head with the bases juiced. Two outs later, Matt Baer drew a bases loaded walk to put West Chester on top, 2-0.
The defending Atlantic Region champs posted single tallies in the fourth and fifth. McGrath's sac fly was the only run of the fourth, and Brandon Wolfe drew a bases on balls with three men on base to drive in the other run in the fifth. However, West Chester had left the bases loaded in the third, and stranded two men in the fourth and fifth innings each, missing golden opportunities to break open the game. That is when Mansfield siezed the moment and got back into the contest.
The Mountaineers finally got to Lehman in the sixth inning after the husky right-hander cruised through the first five innings throwing one-hit ball. The Mounties collected five straight hits to open the sixth, scoring three runs to pull within one (4-3). Glen Jenkins doubled and came around to score on a single to left by Matt Hamilton. Kevin Miller added an RBI double and came around to score on a single up the middle by Mike Hartz.
Lehman (7-0) finished the game with four strikeouts and five earned runs in 8.1 innings to pick up the win. He worked into the ninth inning for the second straight outing. Opalka finished the fina two-thirds inning surrendering one hit and striking out one to earn his third save of the year.
Tino Martinez Player of the Year semifinalist, Joe Wendle, smashed his seventh home run of the season with two outs in the sixth to push West Chester's lead back to two, 5-3. That set the stage for West Chester's big eighth inning. Spisak's double to left, the 66th of his career, one-hopped the fence at about 365 feet while Baer's two-out triple to dead center at Owls Field would also have cleared any other center field fence.
Mansfield ‘s comeback bid came up just short in the ninth inning. Jenkins was beaned by a fastball to plate one runner and chase Lehman from the game. With bases loaded, Jon Taddeo hit a two-run double to center off of Opalka. After that Opalka got a strikeout looking and groundout to second to end the game.
The first three batters in West Chester's order (McGrath, Spisak, Wendle) each posted a pair of hits, going a combined 6-for-11 with five RBI. Cleanup hitter Orensky was 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI as well.
The winner between Seton Hill and West Virginia State will take on West Chester at 6 p.m. on Friday night, while the loser will play Mansfield at 11 a.m. in an elimination contest.
