ASTON, PA – Wednesday afternoon belonged to Bloomsburg right-handed starting pitcher Jared Marshman, who baffled West Chester's bats all day in leading the visiting Huskies to a 5-2 win in the quarterfinal round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) postseason baseball tournament at Maple Zone Sports Village.
Marshman (4-1) scattered eight hits over eight-plus innings without walking a batter and striking out seven. He threw only 100 pitches. His final pitch was hit over the left field fence by West Chester's
Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) in the bottom of the ninth to spoil Marshman's shutout bid. To that point in the game, Marshman had not allowed a run, nor did he allow a runner past second base – except for a two-out Golden Rams' rally in the bottom of the third when the home team loaded the bases. The next batter flew out to right to end the rally.
Bloomsburg (19-14) advances to the PSAC semifinals to face the top seed out of the Eastern Division, Millersville, in a Best-of-3 series on the weekend. West Chester (20-11) looks to the NCAA Division II Tournament Selection Show in 11 days to see if its 2021 campaign continues.
The Huskies broke out on top in the third with a leadoff walk and a RBI double from Kyle O'Fier. That's the way things stayed until the seventh when the third-seeded visitors pushed across four more with the help of a costly error in the field.
Needing five runs in their last at bats, the Golden Rams got a two-run shot from Cantwell. But, Bloomsburg head coach, Mike Collins, went to J.J. Spehrley (1) to finish out the frame for his first save on the season.
West Chester starter, lefty
Braeden Fausnaught (Danville, Pa./Danville), pitched well in defeat. He lasted 5.1, yielding one run on four hits. He walked four and struck out six. The offensive support just wasn't there.
Culver Hughes (Exton, Pa./West Chester East) came on in the sixth and got the Golden Rams out of that inning. However, he was responsible for the fateful seventh. He pitched 1.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits, though only two of the runs were earned. He struck out two. Left-handed freshman,
Andrew Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) relieved Hughes and went the rest of the way. He threw 2.1, allowing just one base runner.
Mike Ferrara (Jamison, Pa./Archbishop Wood) went 2-for-4 at the plate. Seven different players in West Chester's lineup managed to get a hit. Only Ferrara had a multi-hit game, however.
Bloomsburg's Jared Burcin was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles. O'Fier finished 2-for-5 for the Huskies.
