Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – West Chester won a tight 5-4 contest over No. 13 East Stroudsburg in game one, and rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the nightcap to take game two, 9-4, on a brisk Friday afternoon at Serpico Stadium.
With the doubleheader sweep, WCU has now won ten consecutive games and 16 of their last 17.
The Golden Rams (31-10, 19-7) and Warriors (34-13, 17-9) entered the pivotal series tied for second place in the PSAC East. In addition, WCU debuted at No. 3 in the first NCAA Atlantic Region poll. ESU was slotted at No. 2.
West Chester jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game one against ESU starting pitcher Matt Festa, who entered the game with a 10-0 record and 1.66 ERA. With runners on first and second, a
Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) RBI double off the right field wall gave WCU a 1-0 lead. A two-out, two-RBI single off the bat of
Nick Bateman (Aston, Pa./Malvern) extended the first inning lead to 3-0.
ESU cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the second and fourth innings. However,
Joe Sheernan's (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) fifth home run of the season, a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth, stretched the WCU edge to 5-2.
ESU cut the lead to one at 5-4 with a two-run home run in the fifth, knocking WCU starting pitcher
Nick Stallings (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) from the game.
Josh McClain (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) entered in relief, and silenced the ESU bats for the remaining three innings, picking up his sixth save of the season.
Stallings (4-2) earned the game one win.
Trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning of the nightcap, the WCU offense erupted for nine unanswered runs, scoring three in the fifth and another six in the sixth inning.
Clay Harwick (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) singled to start the Golden Rams' fifth.
Drew Diehl (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) drew a walk to put runners at first at second. A
Nick Ward (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) RBI single scored Harwick, and put runners on the corners.
Justin Roman (Berwyn, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) kept the rally alive with an RBI single, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
Zach Sheranko (Tannersville, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) then singled home Ward, and WCU was suddenly within one run. Sheranko was 4-for-5 on the day, increasing his team-leading batting average to .446.
A perfectly executed Ward bunt single in the sixth tied the ballgame at 4-4. With the bases loaded, an RBI walk issued to Dressler gave WCU the go-ahead run. Another walk handed West Chester a 6-4 lead. The Golden Rams would rally for three more in the sixth and pull away to 9-4.
Eric Close (Berwyn, Pa./Haverford) tossed six innings, en route to the game two win. Close (4-0) allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and one walked batter.
Mike O'Neil (Brick, N.J./Brick Twp Memorial) entered in the seventh and retired the side in order.
West Chester takes a ten-game winning streak to ESU tomorrow to conclude the regular season. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
