KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The No. 6 West Chester University baseball team closed out play in the 2018 D9 Sunshine State Games on Thursday afternoon, as the team returned to the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida for the final time this week to take on Northwood University (Mich.) in a single nine-inning contest.
After connecting on 18 hits in yesterday's 25-15 victory over Slippery Rock, the Golden Rams tallied a season-low three hits on Thursday afternoon to fall to the Timberwolves 5-1, snapping WCU's eight-game winning streak in the process. The loss brings West Chester's record in Florida to 5-1 and drops the Golden Rams to 10-3 overall heading into their first home game of the season on Tuesday.
Northwood (11-6) got on the board first with a RBI single in the top of the first inning and maintained that lead over the next 1.5 frames. In the third, senior
Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa. / North Penn) recorded his team-leading 25th RBI of the season - scoring junior
Joey Coyle (Wilmington, Del. / Salesianum) from third with a groundout – to knot the game at 1-1 through three. The score did not remain tied for long, as the Timberwolves would retake the lead during the following half inning with a RBI triple by junior Nick Palmer to put Northwood back on top, 2-1. Both teams combined for just two hits over the next 2.5 innings and score remained stuck at 2-1 heading into the top of the seventh frame. The seventh inning is when the Timberwolves distanced themselves from the Golden Rams, thanks to 3-run bomb by senior Brian Dombrowski to extend the Northwood advantage to 5-1 with just two innings to play. West Chester's offensive struggles continued throughout the final two frames, as the Golden Rams only managed to land two baserunners overall. After
Jon Hansen (Cherry Hill, N.J. / George Mason) led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, West Chester went ground out - fly out – strikeout to end the inning and give WCU its first defeat this month.
Melone, Hansen, and senior
Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa. / Red Land) each recorded a hit in Thursday's defeat, with Melone adding the lone RBI for the Golden Rams.
On the mound, senior
Bill Ford (Parkside, Pa. / Malvern Prep) was saddled with the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with two walks in 4.0 innings pitched.
On the other side of the diamond, seven Timberwolves recorded a hit in Thursday's game and senior pitcher Tyler Jandon got his third win of the season after allowing just one run in eight innings to go along with seven strikeouts.
