JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The No. 19 West Chester University baseball team dropped an 8-1 decision to the defending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champions Seton Hill on Wednesday at the opening day of the 2018 PSAC Championship at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pa.
The Golden Rams (31-14) will return to Point Stadium tomorrow morning to square off against Slippery Rock (29-18) in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. after the Rock fell 13-7 against Bloomsburg in Wednesday's opener.
Wednesday's affair marked the second time in the last two years that the Golden Rams and Griffins have met in the opening game of the PSAC Championship, as Seton Hill managed to defeat West Chester 5-6 last season to start the tournament before eventually earning the 2017 title following a convincing 20-6 win over Mercyhurst in the championship game.
WCU's offense managed to log eight hits against the Griffins on Wednesday but the Golden Rams were unable to combat four costly errors and a solid all-around game by Seton Hill pitcher Perry Dellavalle (6-7) on the mound.
After a fielding error put SHU's leadoff batter on base, the Griffins logged a single to center before a three-run bomb by Tom McCarthy put Seton Hill in front 3-0 after the first half inning of action.
Down 3-0 in the bottom half of the first,
Jon Hansen (
CHERRY HILL, N.J./GEORGE MASON) and
Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN) tallied the Golden Rams' first hits of the contest but WCU would be unable to capitalize after a strikeout ended the first for West Chester.
Seton Hill tacked on an additional run in the second inning to go up 4-0 but WCU starter
Zach Rice (HONEY BROOK, PA./TWIN VALLEY) was able to keep the Griffins off the board over the next handful of innings – striking out five batters (including the side in the third) to freeze SHU at four runs between the second and sixth frame. Despite Rice settling in nicely on the mound, the Golden Rams' offense was unable to get it going, as West Chester went three up and three down between the second and sixth innings.
The Golden Rams' lone run came in the bottom of the sixth after Melone notched his second hit of the afternoon to score Hansen from third to bring the score to 4-1 heading into the seventh.
The Griffins added one run in the top of the seventh and then another three scores in the top of eighth to extend the visitor's cushion to 8-1. West Chester's day ended after its 4-5-6 hitters went down in order to seal the opening-day defeat for the Golden Rams.
Melone and Hansen both logged two hits in Wednesday loss, with Melone contributing West Chester's lone RBI.
Making his postseason debut, Rice (7-3) got the loss after giving up five runs (all earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched.
Additional Information
The Golden Rams remained at No. 1 in today's NCAA Atlantic Regional rankings, as West Chester retained the top spot over Millersville (No. 2), Bloomsburg (No. 3), Mercyhurst (No. 4), and Gannon (No. 5).
