WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The No. 2 seed West Chester University baseball team opened up play at the 2019 NCAA DII Atlantic Region II Championship on Friday, as the host Golden Rams welcomed No. 3 Gannon and No. 6 Charleston to Serpico Stadium for the first regional tournament hosted on WCU's home field in over 30 years. The host Golden Rams dropped Friday's opener against Gannon, 6-4, off the back of a 14-strikeout performance by GU starter Devan Judy before being bounced from the double-elimination tournament following a 3-1 loss to Charleston in the nightcap.
West Chester, winners of nine out of their last 10 games entering the tournament, finish the 2019 campaign with a 31-16 overall record after going winless in the regional championship for the second year in a row. The Golden Rams' 31 victories this season mark the fourth straight year that West Chester has won at least 30 games in a campaign and WCU has now qualified for the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship in each of the last five years.
GAME ONE: West Chester – 4 | Gannon – 6
SHORT STORY: The Golden Rams got multiple hit games from
Justin Horn (WILLOW GROVE, PA. UPPER DUBLIN),
Kyle Feaster (TROOPER, PA./METHACTION), and
Luke Cantwell (BROOMALL, PA./MARPLE NEWTOWN) but WCU was unable to catch up Gannon's Deven Judy, who improved to 8-0 on the year after striking out a career-high 14 batters on a career-best 141 pitches.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Gannon put up two in the top of the first after Jared Beach sacrificed in Brandon Wetherholt before Nate Carty would come home off a throwing error by WCU's Corey Webb (EASTON, PA./EASTON).
- Down two, the Golden Rams used RBI singles from Feaster and Horn with two outs to square the game at 2-2 entering the third.
- GU converted four hits in the third into three runs to take the 5-2 lead through 3.5 frames.
- WCU starter Zach Rice (HONEY BROOK, PA./TWIN VALLEY) fanned two batters in both the fourth and fifth stanzas to keep the Golden Knights off the board, before Cantwell came through with a RBI double in the bottom of the fifth to cut the GU advantage to 5-3.
- In the seventh, Horn reached on a single to lead off the frame before Judy went on to strikeout the next three batters he faced to keep the score at 5-3 in favor of Gannon heading into the eighth.
- Gannon added an insurance run in the ninth to push the advantage to 6-3 to put WCU down three with the top of the order due up in the bottom of the ninth. Feaster led off with a triple before being brought home on a RBI groundout by Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN) to cut the Gannon lead to just two runs with two outs, but WCU's day would end with a line out to give the Golden Knights the 6-4 victory. Friday's two-run triumph by Gannon to start day two marked the first NCAA Tournament win for the Golden Knights in program history.
West Chester recorded six hits in the loss and committed two errors along the way. Cantwell, Feaster and Horn each recorded two hits in the loss, while Melone recorded his first stolen base of the season and just the sixth swiped bag of his career.
Rice (6-3) got the loss after surrendering nine hits and five runs (four earned) with two walks and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work.
Joe Peluso (DOYLESTOWN, PA./LASALLE) struck out a career-high five batters in 3.2 innings of relief without walking a single batter.
GAME TWO: West Chester – 1 | Charleston – 3
SHORT STORY: West Chester held a sizable 11-3 advantage in hits against the Golden Eagles, but two of Charleston's three hits were home runs. Austin Hathaway led off the game with a long ball in the first and Jesse Bailey smacked a two-run go-ahead shot in the eighth, which provided to be the deciding factor in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Facing a 3-1 count, leadoff batter Austin Hathaway sent a rocket shot over the left field fence to put UC in front 1-0 through one inning of action.
- West Chester got its lone run in the top of the fifth, thanks to a RBI single from Melone with one out.
- With two outs in the bottom of the eight, Bailey connected on a two-run shot with two outs to put the Golden Eagles ahead 3-1 heading into the home half of the ninth.
- Horn's single would represent the only base runner for WCU in the ninth, as the game ended with a strikeout handed out by UC reliever Jacob Kaiser.
Feaster went 3-for-5 to lead the WCU offense in game two, while Horn and Melone both recorded two hits in the loss.
Making his last start for the Purple & Gold,
Jon Fisher (PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA. PLYMOUTH/WHITEMARSH) got the loss to end his senior season with a 6-4 overall record after giving up three runs (all earned) with seven K's in 8.0 innings.
CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
No. 3 Gannon and No. 6 Charleston will square off tomorrow at Serpico Stadium in a best-of-three series with the winner moving onto the NCAA Super Regional.
Head Coach Jad Prachniak Postgame
