No. 17 West Chester Shuts Out STAC, 3-0

Box Score

POMONA, N.Y. – A pair of errors in the top of the eighth inning led to all three runs as No. 17 West Chester shut out host St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC), 3-0, at Palisades Credit Union Park Wednesday night.
 
West Chester (18-6) upped its modest winning streak to three games while STAC saw its nine-game winning streak come to a close, falling to 21-11.
 
Robert Knox (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) reached on an error by STAC's third baseman to lead off the fateful eighth. Nick Ward (Unionville, Pa./Unionville) followed with a walk. That is when Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) laid down a bunt that STAC's pitcher threw down the right-field line, allowing both Knox and Ward to come around and score the first two runs of the ballgame. Melone wound up at third when the dust had settled.
 
After Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa./Red Lion) walked, Drew Jarmuz (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) singled to center, knocking in Melone with the third and final run.
 
Head coach, Jad Prachniak, then turned the game over to his closer, Josh McClain (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock), who came in and tossed two scoreless frames for his fourth save of the season. Joe Kinee (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti) threw the sixth and seventh in relief for his second win of the season.
 
Tim Edwards (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) started the game and threw four scoreless innings, allowing three hits. Lefty, Michael Dietz (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) then pitched a pair of scoreless frames, allowing the last two hits that STAC collected in the contest.
 
West Chester scored three runs on five hits and did not commit an error while STAC scored no runs on five hits and had four miscues in the field. There were no extra-base hits in the game, and each side left nine runners on base in a game that was scoreless until the eighth.
 
STAC leadoff hitter, Joseph Pena, went 3-for-4 in the game, collecting three of the team's five hits on the night. Single hits from Bobby Morse and Greg Dawber were the only other two base knocks for the Spartans.
 
West Chester travels to Kutztown University on Friday for a PSAC East doubleheader against the rival Golden Bears. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m. on Kutztown's North Campus Field.