West Chester Splits Twinbill With Shippensburg

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Andrew Gernert went the distance in game one to pick up a 5-4 win, but host Shippensburg came back for a 7-3 win in the nightcap of a PSAC East baseball doubleheader at Fairchild Field Friday afternoon.
 
West Chester (24-9, 18-6 PSAC East) fell back into second place in the Eastern Division standings behind preseason favorite Millersville, which swept Mansfield on Friday. Shippensburg (24-22, 16-10) has already clinched a spot in the postseason tournament, along with Millersville and West Chester.
 
Gernert (4-2) threw over 150 pitches, and left the game-tying run at third and the game-winning run at first in the bottom of the seventh, to earn his fourth win of the season on the mound in the opener.
 
Matt Petrizzi finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, including the game-winning RBI in the top of the seventh when he hit a two-out single through the left side to give West Chester a 5-4 lead.
 
Justin Roman hit his third home run of the season in the second to tie the game at 1-1 early on. The Rams then plated three more in the third to take a 4-1 lead. The Raiders answered back with two in the fourth and one more in the sixth to knot things at 4-4.
 
Gernert gave up four runs on six hits. He walked five and struck out four.
 
Dylan Tice went 2-for-3 in the nightcap, as did Anthony Salomone, but it was not enough. Left-hander Nick Stallings (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season in the second game. Stallings lasted just two innings, giving up five runs, four of them earned, on five hits. He walked five batters. Mike O'Neill finished up for the Golden Rams. He allowed two runs on three hits and struck out five.
 
West Chester saw its nine-game winning streak come to a close while also losing for the first time all year on the road on the other team's home field. The two conference rivals go back at it Saturday afternoon at Serpico Stadium at 1 p.m. in another double dip.