WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University baseball team (20-11) took a brief break from the rigors of PSAC East play on Wednesday afternoon to take on non-conference foe Adelphi (13-20). A high-scoring game throughout, West Chester held a 7-4 lead through the middle innings, but it was visiting Adelphi who stormed back for a 10-7 victory over the Golden Rams.
Adelphi jumped out to an early lead with a three-run home run in the top of the first, capitalizing on a pair of early walks by
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge).
West Chester answered quickly with back-to-back two-out hits in the first inning, including an RBI double by
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) kept the line moving with a two-out single of his own, giving West Chester runners on the corners with
JR Gifford (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood) coming to the plate. Gifford laced a single into left over the Panther's leaping third baseman, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
Adelphi responded quickly, pushing across its fourth run of the game after an RBI double into the right-center gap, which closed the book on DeHaven as
Jeb Kurtz (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) entered in relief.
Kurtz worked out of trouble, and West Chester manufactured its third run of the game following a sac fly by
Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn). Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) lined a single through the right side with two outs and promptly stole second, moving to third on an errant throw down before another error by the Panthers shortstop allowed WCU to tie the game at 4-4.
DeHaven finished with a final line of four runs on three hits in his inning of work, while Kurtz allowed just one hit and struck out one over his inning of work.
West Chester took its first lead of the day in the third inning after Costa reached to open the inning and later scored on a wild pitch before the Golden Rams took a two-run lead with an RBI double by Gifford. West Chester stretched its lead to 7-4 before Adelphi responded with four runs over the course of the fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-7 lead into the sixth.
With the Golden Rams holding their first lead of the afternoon,
Gabe Rappa (Paulsboro, N.J./Neumann Goretti) entered in relief and worked the next 2.1, scattering five hits and three runs while walking two and striking out a pair, exiting with a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.
Dylan Howanitz (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) came on in relief and worked out of the jam, allowing just one run to score, which tied the game heading into the sixth.
In the sixth,
Andrew Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) (2-2) entered in relief and allowed the go-ahead run on a solo shot to left, making the score 8-7 in favor of Adelphi.
The visitors pushed across another run in the seventh and an additional insurance run in the ninth to take a 10-7 lead into the home half of the ninth.
This three-run advantage heading to the last of the ninth nearly proved vital as the Golden Rams managed to load the bases with two outs in the final stanza, battling out of two-strike counts to threaten the lead late. Adelphi narrowly worked out of trouble in the ninth, getting the final out on a strikeout looking to escape Serpico Stadium with a 10-7 victory over the home-standing Golden Rams.
Robert Affentia III picked up the win with two scoreless, hitless innings while striking out a pair to improve to 2-0 on the year. Coleton Reitan pitched the final four innings in relief for Adelphi, picking up his third save of the year, scattering just three hits and two walks while striking out eight in the win.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Friday afternoon against Shepherd to begin a three-game series with the Rams at home starting at 2 p.m.
