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Box Score 2 MANSFIELD, Pa. - Anthonly Salomone hit a two-out, RBI single through the left side in the top of the eighth inning, and Mik O'Neill sent Mansfield down in the bottom half as visiting West Chester split its PSAC East regular-season baseball finale with the Mountaineers, winning game one 8-7 in eight, before falling 8-3 in the nightcap at Shaute Field Sunday afternoon.
West Chester (26-11, 20-8 PSAC East) finish the regular season in second place behind Millersville and will enter the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday in Butler, Pa., as the second seed out of the East. Mansfield ends its 2015 campaign at 14-26 overall and 9-19 in the conference.
Dylan Tice hit his team-leading ninth home run of the year in game one to help West Chester build a 7-1 lead. However, Mansfield came storming back with a five-run sixth and then the tying run in the seventh that tied the game.
Salomone finished 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI in the opener. Tice went 2-for-3. O'Neill (2-0) threw two scoreless innings in relief, scattering two hits and walking one while striking out one to get his second win of the season. He was one of four pitchers that WCU head coach Jad Prachniak paraded to the mound in game one. Salomone went 2-for-3 in the nightcap to end the day 5-for-8 overall with three RBI. Matt Petrizzi was 2-for-4.
Mansfield scored five runs in the fourth inning to jump out to an 8-1 lead in game two. West Chester got two more runs in the top of the seventh, but the comeback fell short.
West Chester will now get ready for the PSAC Tournament, beginning Wednesday in Butler, Pa. Tickets to the double-elimination tournament are $7 for adults and $2 for students. Students with a valid ID from any of the PSAC schools are admitted free. No comp tickets will be available, and only PSAC passes will be honored.
