WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Winners of the their last seven straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contests, the No. 18 West Chester University baseball team welcomed divisional rival East Stroudsburg to Serpico Field for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Rams recorded more hits than the Warriors in both of Saturday's games, but ESU managed to swipe both from West Chester (6-5, 12-7) to give the Warriors their first win at Serpico in their last 10 attempts and their first sweep of WCU on its home field since the 2011 season.
WCU drops to 16-7 overall and slide behind East Stroudsburg to third in the PSAC East behind a 7-3 mark in league games. The Warriors move to 21-8 on the season following Saturday's sweep and the W's push ESU to the No. 2 spot in the division thanks to an 8-2 mark in conference outings.
GAME ONE: West Chester 5 | East Stroudsburg 6
- ESU jumped on Golden Ram starter Jon Fisher (PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA./PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH) early, as the visitors hung four runs on the board entering the home half of the second frame.
- With one out in the second, Jon Hansen (CHERRY HILL, N.J./GEORGE MASON) drew a walk before advancing to second off a single from Corey Webb (EASTON, PA./EASTON) from the eighth slot. Both runners would advance off a groundout by DH Brian Verratti (PHILADELPHIA, PA./NEUMANN-GORETTI) and then Justin Horn (WILLOW GROVE, PA./UPPER DUBLIN) cleared the bases with a 2-RBI double to bring the Golden Rams within one (3-2).
- With the bases juiced in the bottom of the third, Michael Krusinski (MEDFORD, NJ BISHOP/EUSTACE PREP) stepped to the dish and logged a single to right – scoring both Joey Coyle (WILMINGTON, DEL./SALESIANUM) and Joe Zirolli (KENNETT, PA./KENNETT SQUARE) – to give the Golden Rams the 5-4 lead through three.
- The Warriors recorded three hits and logged two runs in the top of the fourth to retake the lead 6-5 through 3.5 innings of action.
- Clinging to the one-run lead, ESU turned to closer Connor Johnson in the final two frames and the junior came through by keeping WCU to just two hits across the final two innings to secure the 6-5 triumph for the Warriors to start the afternoon.
Horn, Webb and
Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN) each tallied two hits in the loss, while Horn and Krusinski combined for four of WCU's five RBI.
On the mound, Fisher fell to 3-2 on the year after giving up all six runs (five earned) on six hits with one strikeout in 3.1 innings pitched.
Nick Picariello (PHILADELPHIA, PA./GERMANTOWN ACADEMY) came in to relief Fisher and pitched well, as the sophomore notched five strikeouts while only allowing three hits across 3.2 innings of action.
GAME TWO: West Chester 7 | East Stroudsburg 12
- Following a scoreless two innings, ESU tacked on three runs in the top of the third to take the 3-0 advantage early.
- A RBI single from Melone in the bottom of the third sparked a huge six-run inning for the Golden Rams, highlighted by a three-run bomb from Zirolli to put the home team in front, 6-3.
- It was all Warriors across the next three innings, as ESU put up nine runs between the fourth and sixth innings to race out to the comfortable 12-6 lead entering the seventh.
- WCU added one final run in the seventh off a sacrifice fly by Melone to bring the final in Saturday's nightcap to 12-7.
Zirolli's team-leading sixth long ball of the year gave the first baseman a team-high three RBI in game two, while Melone chipped in two RBI to go along with one hit and one run scored. Webb and Krusinski both notched two hits in the losing effort, with both players chipping in one double.
The Golden Rams went through six pitchers on Saturday night, but
Evan Snyder (CHEYNEY, PA. RUSTIN) ultimately got the loss after giving up the lead in the fifth.
UP NEXT
WCU closes out its four-game series against the Warriors tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader in East Stroudsburg scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m.
