No. 14 West Chester Hangs On Against IUP, 5-4

Box Score

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Jr. closer Josh McClain (Tunkhannock, Pa./Tunkhannock) induced a game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth inning with two men on and one out as 14th-ranked West Chester survived and moved on in the PSAC Tournament Thursday night against Indiana (Pa.) at Point Stadium.
 
West Chester (34-10) advances to play the loser of Lock Haven vs. Seton Hill tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at Point Stadium. IUP (22-25) is eliminated from the tournament. Lock Haven and Seton Hill will play earlier in the day per the updated and adjusted schedule sent out by the league.
 
IUP jumped out on top early with a three-run second inning. However, West Chester got one back in the third and then plated a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings each to take a 5-3 lead. The Crimson Hawks threatened in the ninth, taking advantage of a WCU error to push one across. But, McClain, who suffered the loss last night to Seton Hill in the opener, redeemed himself with a strikeout and then a double play ball following an IUP single. It was McClain's eighth save of the season.
 
Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI, including his sixth home run of the season in the fifth. Anthony Salomone (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) went 2-for-5 with a RBI. Nick Bateman (Aston, Pa./Malvern) rapped out a pair of hits as well.
 
Melone's first RBI was a two-out single in the third that made it a 3-1 ballgame. In the fourth, Joe Sheeran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) started another two-out rally with a single and a stolen base. Salomone followed with a RBI single and then stole second. Clay Harwick (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) then singled through the right side, and Salomone raced around third and scored.
 
Melone led off the fifth with his bomb to left that chased IUP starter Mike Klingensmith (2-6). Bateman later singled and stole second with two outs. Sheeran then struck out, but reached first on a dropped third strike. When IUP's catcher tried to throw the ball to first, his attempt sailed into right field, allowing Bateman to score. Sheeran reached second, but then advanced to third on an errant throw by the right fielder where he was eventually stranded.
 
West Chester right-hander Jon Fisher (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) picked up the win on the mound. He handed the ball off to McClain in the ninth, after yielding three runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out nine.