WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Following multiple schedule changes due to inclement weather, the No. 9 West Chester University baseball team finally welcomed Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) foe Mansfield University to town on Sunday to open conference play with a doubleheader at Serpico Field. The Golden Rams managed a season-low three hits in a 3-0 loss against MU to start the day, before senior
Joe Zirolli (KENNETT, PA./KENNETT SQUARE) went off for three hits, three runs, four RBI and two long balls to lead WCU past Mansfield 15-2 in Sunday's nightcap.
The Golden Rams move to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in the PSAC following Sunday's twinbill, while the Mountaineers go to 4-8 overall behind a 1-1 mark in league games after earning the split.
GAME ONE: West Chester- 0 | Mansfield – 3
- Mansfield ace Evan McAndrew (3-1) tossed a gem for the Mountaineers in the opener, as the senior tossed his first shutout of the season behind eight strikeouts and two walks. McAndrew kept the Golden Rams to a season-low three hits in Sunday's opener, with WCU's three hits standing as the fewest by the team in its last 36 games dating back to last season.
- MU shortstop Josh Kulina was responsible for all three Mountaineer runs in the win, including a two-RBI double to left in the top of the fifth frame.
Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN) singled in both the fourth and sixth inning to give the senior two of WCU's three hits in the opening game, with
Kyle Feaster's (TROOPER, PA./ METHACTION) double in the third representing the other for the Purple & Gold.
On the mound, senior
Jon Fisher (PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA./PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH) got his first loss of the season after giving up three runs (all earned) on three hits with four strikeouts against three walks in 4.1 innings pitched.
GAME TWO: West Chester – 15 | Mansfield – 2
- The Golden Rams pounced on the Mountaineers early in game two, as West Chester hung six on Mansfield – including a two-run home run by Zirolli – to race out to the sizable 6-0 advantage to start Sunday's nightcap.
- Jon Hansen (CHERRY HILL, N.J./GEORGE MASON) notched his second RBI of game two in the second inning to help WCU add an additional four runs in the bottom of the second frame.
- Up by 10 in the third, Zirolli stepped to the dish and connected on his second 2-run home run of the afternoon to push the home team's advantage to 12-0 through three innings.
- Mansfield got on the board with a RBI single by Kulina in the fifth, before Hunter Reeser (MOHNTON, PA./GOVERNOR MIFFLIN), Hansen, and Corey Webb (EASTON, PA./EASTON) each notched RBI in the bottom of the stanza to extend the Golden Rams' lead to 15-1.
Zirolli's three hits and four RBI paced all players in game two, while Melone, Reeser and
Luke Cantwell (BROOMALL, PA./MARPLE NEWTOWN) each notched two hits in the win. Hansen went for three hits and three RBI and Webb also added three RBI and a run on Sunday afternoon.
Senior
Scott McKenna (HAVERTOWN, PA./HAVERFORD) improved to 3-0 on the year after going 4.2 innings while only allowing one run (no earned) on seven hits with two K's and just one walk.
UP NEXT
West Chester closes out its four-game series against the Mountaineers tomorrow, March 25, when the squad travels to the Joseph Shaute Field to square off against Mansfield in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.
