POMONA, NY – The No. 17 West Chester University baseball team took a step outside of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play on Tuesday, as the squad hit the road and headed the Palisades Credit Union Park in Pomona, New York to square off against the No. 23 Spartans from St. Thomas Aquinas College.
The host Spartans raced out to a big 6-0 lead to start Tuesday's battle of nationally-ranked opponents and despite a big six-run inning by West Chester in the sixth, St. Thomas Aquinas (29-9) never relinquished its early lead en route to the 12-8 victory at home.
The Golden Rams drop to 24-12 on the season following the loss and Tuesday's defeat marks the second time this season that West Chester has fallen to STAC, as the Spartans defeated WCU 12-5 on February 25 in Colonial Heights, Va.
St. Thomas Aquinas' Giovanni Dingcong logged the first of his game-high four RBI in the first inning to put the home team on top 1-0, before the senior connected on a two-run home run to spark a five-run third inning to push the Spartans in front 6-0 entering the fourth.
Shane Dressler (YORK HAVEN, PA./RED LAND) got the Golden Rams on the board in the fourth by singling in
Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN) and following a two-run fifth by St. Thomas Aquinas, the scoreboard read 8-1 in favor of the home team.
West Chester's 3-4-6 hitters came through in a big way in the sixth frame, as Melone, Dressler, and
Drew Jarmuz (KENNETT SQUARE, PA./UNIONVILLE) all logged RBI to hack the STAC advantage down to four, 8-4, with no outs. After Jarmuz advanced to second on a wild pitch,
Christian Bateman (ASTON, PA/SUN VALLEY) sacrificed in a run to make it 8-5 before
Bill Ford (PARKSIDE, PA./MALVERN PREP) stepped to the dish and sent his first home run of the season over the wall to bring the visitors within one run (8-7).
St. Thomas Aquinas quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to push its lead to 11-7 and followed that up with a RBI single from Kyle Lagrunta in the seventh to extend the home team's cushion to 12-7 entering the eighth.
Following a scoreless eighth,
Nick Ward (KENNETT SQUARE, PA./UNIONVILLE) led off the ninth with a single and then advanced to second thanks to a single through the right side from Dressler.
Zach Sheranko (TANNERSVILLE, PA./POCONO MOUNTAIN EAST) followed with a RBI single to center to score Ward to bring the game to 12-8, but Sheranko would eventually get tossed out at second on a fielder's choice to end the game with the Golden Rams suffering the 12-8 defeat.
The top half of West Chester's lineup combined for seven hits and four RBI on the day, with Dressler tying Ford for the team lead with two RBI in the loss.
On the mound,
Dan McCartin (WARRINGTON, PA./CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH) (0-1) got his first loss of the season after giving up six runs (three earned) on five hits in 2.2 innings pitched.
