Baseball Falls To Lake Erie College In Season Opener, 9-4

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – After getting rained out the day before, the West Chester Golden Rams' baseball squad fell short to Lake Erie College, 9-4, as a part of the Clearwater Invitational Saturday afternoon at Jack Russell Stadium.
 
The Golden Rams (0-1) found themselves down early, allowing a run off a fielding error in the first inning, which the Storm would convert into a run on a sacrifice fly. Lake Eire College (3-3) capitalized on nine walks, three in the fifth inning, leading to a 6-0 advantage after five.
 
Senior transfer, Dylan Tice (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) had a big day in his West Chester debut, going 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Junior Drew Diehl (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) added a 2-for-5 line with two singles in the leadoff position. Justin Roman (Berwyn, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) collected two hits, including a double and a single, in the loss.
 
Down by six heading into the sixth, the Golden Rams would not lay down as Tice opened the scoring for West Chester with his first home run of the season and first in a Golden Rams uniform. West Chester was not done after that as Clay Harwick (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) led off the sixth with a single, followed by back-to-back doubles from Bill Ford (Parkside, Pa./Malvern Prep) and Mike Gannon (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South) to cut the lead in half, 6-3. Gannon later scored on a fielder's choice, and WCU trailed by only two runs.
 
The Storm shut down the Golden Rams lineup in the eighth and added some insurance with three runs in their half to close out with the win. 
 
Lucas Raley went 2-for-4 with one RBI and Cale Giddings also went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. The Storm scored nine runs, seven of them unearned, on eight hits in the game.
 
West Chester will be right back at it tomorrow for a doubleheader against PSAC West rival Slippery Rock University beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Clearwater.