Box Score MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- After combining to eliminate the University of Charleston (W.V.) a day ago, West Chester (32-19) and Millersville (42-8) renewed their rivalry in front of a strong Cooper Park crowd on Friday afternoon on Day Two of the Atlantic Regional Tournament. Millersville jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, but it was a big four-run sixth, which made the difference as the Marauders earned an 8-5.
"We battled until the end like we always do," stated head coach
Mike LaRosa. "It's always hard to go down early, but I thought we did a good job of fighting back all day to stay in it and get the tying run to the plate late in the game. I give Seibert (freshman pitcher Matt Seibert) a lot of credit; he threw a great game and did a really nice job keeping us off balance with a good three-pitch mix throughout the day," continued LaRosa.
With today's setback, West Chester finds itself in a very familiar position, needing a pair of wins tomorrow to extend the 2023 season. West Chester played to a mark of 6-1 in elimination games a season ago, taking two from Seton Hill on the opening weekend and two from East Stroudsburg in Super Regionals before eliminating Southern New Hampshire and Angelo State at the National Finals in Cary, North Carolina.
"As soon as we brought the team together at the end, our returning guys were preaching that we've been here before and know how to handle it," said LaRosa when asked about the team's familiarity in must-win games. "This is a different team, but we still have a lot of the guys to who helped us win two in a day vs Seton Hill and do it again against ESU, so they know what it takes. I that experience is big from a mental side because I really think if you can take that first elimination game, it just comes down to competitiveness from that point," explained LaRosa.
Matt Seibert earned his third victory of the year for Millersville after turning in 6.2 strong innings for the Marauders.
Joe Sperone (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) (7-5) was saddled with the loss after pitching the first 4.1, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out a pair of Golden Rams.
Joe Messina (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann Goretti) entered in relief for West Chester in the sixth and delivered four big innings for West Chester, allowing just one run on four hits while walking and striking out a pair to keep West Chester in contention through the late innings.
"Joe was huge for us," acknowledged LaRosa when asked about the relief effort by senior
Joe Messina. "He did exactly what he needed him to do and did what you'd expect from a senior captain and leader on this team. He always gives us everything he has, and I'm sure he'll do it tomorrow if we ask him to," said LaRosa.
At the plate,
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway Regional) and Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) both turned in multi-hit afternoons for West Chester. For Millersville, Sam Morris continued his hot start to the NCAA Tournament, following up his 4-for-4 effort yesterday with a 3-for-4 effort on Friday afternoon, while Bren Taylor and Keegan Soltis each picked up three hits in the victory.
Following a similar script to West Chester on Thursday afternoon, Millersville jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, pushing across the game's first run on three hits before pitcher Sperone left a pair of runners stranded to keep it a one-run game.
Sperone and company worked around a leadoff double in the second before Millersville scored another run in the third via another leadoff double to right, extending the lead to 2-0. West Chester worked out of the inning after a tremendous defensive play by Sperone, charging a softly hit groundball and flipping it home to
J.R. Gifford (Doylestown, Pa./Archbishop Wood), who applied the tag to get West Chester out of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, West Chester got a leadoff single from
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) but was unable to bring him around to score as the Marauders worked out of early trouble to keep the Golden Rams scoreless heading into the fourth.
Millersville stretched its lead in the fourth with a one-out RBI single back up the middle as the Marauders claimed a 3-0 lead before West Chester worked out of the inning with a clutch 4-6-3 double-play.
Luke Cantwell (Broomall, Pa./Marple Newtown) helped West Chester to continue applying pressure to the Marauders in the fourth, lining a single up the middle before advancing to second an infield single off the bat of
Corey Stouffer (Souderton, Pa./North Penn). The Marauders got a big second out on a flyout in foul ground off the bat of Gifford before
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) electrified the Golden Ram faithful with a clutch two-RBI double down the left-field line, cutting the deficit to 3-2. The Marauders escaped the inning with a strikeout to cling to a 3-2 lead heading into the fifth.
Millersville continued to threaten in the fifth, getting runners on the corners early in the inning, which brought Sperone's day to a close as
Dylan Howanitz (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) entered in relief. Howanitz worked his way out of the inning nicely, starting his afternoon with a groundball back to the mound before ending the inning with a big strikeout, keeping the score at 3-2 in favor of the Marauders.
Millersville led off the sixth with a triple to right center, eventually scoring four runs in the inning to take a 7-2 lead over the Golden Rams into the bottom half of the sixth.
West Chester showed continued signs of life in the home seventh once again, as Szestowicki laced a two-out single back up the middle before scoring on a deep double by
Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn), which cut the deficit to 8-3.
Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman), who has been on a tear since the PSAC Tournament, stayed hot with a single of his own up the middle, giving West Chester runners on the corners with two outs. This single also ended the day for Millersville starter Matt Seibert, who finished with a final line of 6.2, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out three to improve to 3-1 on the year. Colby Gromlich relieved Seibert in the sixth and got the third out of the inning to help Millersville escape the jam. Gromlich worked the final 3.1 innings in relief for Millersville, yielding two runs on two hits and three walks while striking out four.
As they had for much of the afternoon, the Marauders continued to threaten in the top of the eighth, but a timely 4-6-3 double play by the Golden Rams allowed WCU to take the game to the bottom of the eighth with the score locked at 8-3.
West Chester continued its comeback bid in the home half of the eighth as Cantwell reached with a one-out single before Stouffer reached on a throwing error, giving West Chester runners on first and second with one out. The duo moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch, but Gromlich escaped the inning with back-to-back strikeouts of Gifford and Costa, maintaining an 8-3 lead heading into the ninth.
Messina delivered a scoreless top of the ninth, giving his side a final chance to mount a comeback and flip the script for tomorrow's 11 a.m. game vs Millersville. West Chester battled through its final at-bats and got runners to the corners with one away, before loading the bases with two outs. Cantwell laced a 3-2 pitch into right center, scoring a pair and cutting the deficit to 8-5 with two away in the ninth. Millersville ended the game with a strikeout of Stouffer to hold on for a three-run victory over the Golden Rams.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. in a must-win game against the Marauders, with the if-necessary game to follow should West Chester take the first game of the day from Millersville.
