Box Score Philadelphia, Pa. – West Chester scored first and last, but No. 20 Wilmington University scored five times in the second en route to a 7-2 victory in the Championship game of the Bill Giles Classic Tuesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
The Golden Rams (23-14), who failed to claim the championship for the second consecutive season after winning the previous five, have captured nine of the fourteen titles. The Wildcats (27-7-1) have now won two titles the other in 2007, and the win marks the first time it has defeated West Chester in the championship game after falling in five previous efforts.
West Chester opened the scoring on a
Tyler Coleman single in the bottom of the first to score
Justin Roman who singled with one out for a short lived 1-0 lead.
Wilmington responded with five runs off starter
John Barr who could not get out of the second. The Wildcats tied the game with a one out double then took the lead for good on a three-run shot over the left field fence from shortstop Josh Swirchak to make it a 4-1 game, and added a fifth in the frame before
Ron Scull came on in relief to end the inning.
The Wildcats plated two more in the sixth on a RBI double from Swirchak who later came around to score the seventh run to make it a 7-1 game.
West Chester finally scored again on a wild pitch that scored
Chris Pula in the eighth for the final run of the game.
Pula, Roman,
Rob Spekhardt and
Kyle Frazier each registered two hits as part of West Chester's 12 hit attack off of six Wilmington hurlers.
Swirchak finished 2-4 with two runs scored and four RBI to pace the Wildcats 12 hit offense, John Castro had three hits including a triple and scored twice and Mike Annone added three hits and a RBI.
Chris Lopez who pitched two innings was credited with the victory his first of the season. Barr suffered the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season, as the first of four Golden Rams to toe the rubber at Citizens Bank Park. Scull went 4.1 innings allowing the two runs in the seventh, he was followed by
Andrew Gernert who went two scoreless and
Kyle Weary pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Golden Rams have one more non-conference game at Serpico field on Thursday at 3 p.m. against the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, before heading to Millersville on Friday to begin the final weekend series of the regular season with the Marauders.
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