No. 14 West Chester Downs No. 1 Mercyhurst, 18-4

Box Score

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - Sr., 2B Joe Sheeran (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) knocked in six runs and scored three times himself to lead No. 14 West Chester to an 18-4 victory over No. 1 Mercyhurst at the 2017 PSAC Tournament Saturday afternoon at Point Stadium.
 
West Chester (36-10) will play Mercyhurst again for the right to advance to the PSAC Championship Game. The win marks the third straight season in which the Golden Rams have taken down the the No. 1-ranked team in the country and the second time in as many years that they have done so in the conference tournament.
 
Mercyhurst (36-5) entered the game with a modest three-game winning streak, but had won each of its first two tournament games by double-digit margins. The 18 runs allowed was not only a season-high by the Lakers, but the first time all year that an opponent put up double digits themselves.
 
West Chester scored 18 runs on 21 hits and made two errors. Mercyhurst scored four runs on seven hits and committed one error. The Golden Rams broke open the game with a four-spot in the fourth and two more similar frames in the fifth and sixth that turned a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 advantage for the Purple & Gold.
 
All nine batters in West Chester's starting lineup recorded a hit. However, the 6-9 batters in the order went 11-for-18 with 12 RBI. Drew Jarmuz (Kennett Square, Pa./Unionville) and Clay Harwick (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) each collected three hits. Jarmuz knocked in a pair of runs while Harwick added three RBI.
 
Sheeran highlighted the fourth inning rally with a two-run double. He, then, was chased home by a run-scoring single from Jarmuz that tied the game at 3-all. Harwick's single thru the right side two batters later plated Jarmuz with the go-ahead run.
 
In the fifth, Mercyhurst retired the first two batters of the frame. However, the next seven men to the plate for West Chester reached base safely with four coming around to eventually score.  Run-scoring singles from Sheeran and Jarmuz got the rally going. Then, Harwick and Robert Knox (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) each walked with the bases loaded to force home two more.
 
Sheeran hit a three-run shot in the sixth, and Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) and Shane Dressler (York Havn, Pa./Red Land) hit back-to-back doubles later on to push the lead to 12-3.
 
Jr., Mike Cipolla (7-2) was the beneficiary to all the runs on the hill. He lasted seven innings, giving up three runs, only two of them earned, on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Collin Healey (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) pitched the final two innings.