Shippensburg Baseball Sweeps West Chester

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) went 3-for-4 with four RBI in the night cap, but host Shippensburg loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh of a tie game and got a walk-off sacrifice fly to complete a doubleheader sweep in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) baseball showdown at Fairchild Field Friday afternoon.
 
West Chester (17-9, 8-6) battled back from an early deficit to take the lead in the second game. However, Shippensburg (14-18, 6-8) rallied back. The game see-sawed back and forth until the two beleaguered squads found themselves in the seventh inning tied at 14-apiece.
 
Game One: Shippensburg 8  l  West Chester 5
 

• Corey Webb (Easton, Pa./Easton) and Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) each went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI each. But, host Shippensburg jumped all over WCU starter Jon Fisher (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) for four runs in the first inning, and never looked back. Fisher (3-3) lasted four innings, surrendering seven runs [six earned] on 11 hits. He struck out seven without walking a batter.
• Shippensburg added a single tally in the third to restore the Raiders' three-run advantage, and then tacked on two more in the fourth and another in the fifth.
• West Chester attempted a comeback bid with one run in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The Golden Rams put the first two batters on base, and Webb brought both of them home with a single to center field. Cantwell then followed that with a run-scoring single to center as well. That made it an 8-5 game.
• Joey Coyle (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Cantwell singled home Webb in the second for West Chester's other two runs.

 
Game one was played in between rain drops as the two teams tried to squeeze in the doubleheader ahead of the weather front that is making its way East.
 
Game Two: Shippensburg 15  l  West Chester 14
 

• Jared Melone (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) came a single shy of hitting for the cycle in the second game of the doubleheader. His four RBI were a big reason the Golden Rams were in the game.
• West Chester trailed 8-1 entering the third inning when the Rams rallied by scoring 10 runs to take an 11-8 lead. Melone hit a two-run homer and a RBI triple in the frame while Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) and Justin Horn (Willow Grove, Pa./Upper Dublin) each doubled in a pair of runs as well. Mike Krusinski (Medford, N.J./Bishop Eustace), Joe Zirolli (Kennett, Pa./Kennett Square) and Joey Coyle (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) each had RBI in the inning.
• Shippensburg scored 15 runs on 15 hits and committed three errors. They left five runners on base. West Chester scored 14 runs on 13 hits and committed three errors. They left 10 runners on base.
• West Chester reliever Nick Picariello (1-1) suffered the loss in game two. He was the third of three hurlers to take the hill in the night cap.
• The two rivals traded runs in the fourth, leaving West Chester with a 12-9 advantage. Shippensburg then put up a five-spot in the fifth to take a 14-12 lead. The Golden Rams tied things up in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs. Krusinski's two-run double is what brought the visitors even in the seventh.

 
Luke Cantwell went a combined 3-for-8 with four RBI in the doubleheader.
 
West Chester and Shippensburg will play another doubleheader on Saturday at Serpico Stadium in West Chester with first pitch set for 1 p.m.