Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Golden Rams tallied 26 combined hits, 13 in each game, en route to a 9-8 game one victory and 10-1 win in game two versus Bloomsburg on Friday afternoon at Litwhiler Field.
Bloomsburg (20-12, 7-7 PSAC East) got two runners into scoring position with nobody out in the bottom of the first in game one. However, starting pitcher Eric Close (Berwyn, Pa./Haverford) was able to escape without any harm.
Nick Bateman (Aston, Pa./Malvern) launched his fourth home run of the year in the top of the second, giving WCU a 1-0 lead. Nick Ward (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) blasted a three-run homer in the third to extend the Golden Rams' lead to 4-0. The home run was Ward's third of the season.
The Huskies plated a lone run in the fourth to cut the WCU lead to 4-1. However, WCU responded with two runs in the top half of the fifth to go up 6-1.
Close (2-0) was relieved in the bottom of the fifth inning, following a four-run Bloomsburg fifth that narrowed the lead to 6-5. In 4.2 innings on the mound, Close scattered nine hits and allowed five runs, three of which were earned. The junior pitcher struck out five.
Again, West Chester (18-9, 8-6) responded by scoring three runs in the top of the sixth inning, giving the Golden Rams a 9-6 lead.
Two Bloomsburg runs in the sixth, and a solo home run to start the seventh, cut the lead to one run at 9-8. However, Josh McClain (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) was called in from the bullpen and recorded the final three outs of game one, picking up his third save of the season.
West Chester's one through five hitters in the lineup all recorded multi-hit games and accounted for 10 of WCU's 13 game one hits.
The game one victory ended an eight-game Bloomsburg winning streak.
West Chester pitcher Mike Cipolla (Newark, De./Charter School of Wilmington) went the distance in game two for his first complete game of the season. Cipolla (5-2) scattered 10 hits, while only allowing one run. He struck out four Bloomsburg batters.
WCU scored six runs in the second, one in the third, and three in the sixth en route to the 10-1 win.
Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) and Tyler Coleman (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) each had three-hit games in game two.
Dressler went 5-for-8 on the day hitting in the cleanup spot, and leadoff hitter Drew Diehl (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) was 4-for-9.
The Golden Rams host Bloomsburg on Sunday at Serpico Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
