CARY, N.C.- After splitting a doubleheader vs St. Thomas Aquinas yesterday, the No. 8/10 West Chester University baseball team (5-2) got back to its winning ways on Saturday with a dominant 14-4 victory over Wheeling (5-2) on the second day of its stay in Cary, North Carolina.
Wheeling took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single to right before West Chester responded with seven unanswered runs to grab a commanding 7-1 lead heading into the eighth inning.
Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single to center in the home first before a
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) double in the fourth inning gave West Chester a 3-1 lead.
Strawhecker stretched the lead to 4-1 in the sixth with a sac fly RBI before West Chester tacked on three more int eh seventh courtesy of a fielders choice, a RBI single by
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) and a passed ball, which scored Bolhouse who had plated the first run of the inning via a fielders choice.
Wheeling cut the lead down to three with a three-run eighth inning before West Chester exploded for seven runs on two hits, two errors, and a host of walks in the eighth inning to take a commanding 14-4 lead. The biggest play of the eight inning was a
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) grand slam to left, which took the lead from 12-4 after a bases-loaded walk by
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and catapulted it to 12-4 in the blink of an eye. A
Gabe Caso () walk and a
Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) hit-by-pitch extended the lead to 14-4 and completed the scoring in the 14-4 victory.
West Chester scored its 14 runs on 10 hits on Saturday, led by multi-hit games from Szestowicki, Stalker, and Strawhecker as all three registered two hits in the victory.
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) (2-0) earned the win on the mound with a strong six inning effort, which saw him scatter just three hits and two walks, allowing one unearned run, while striking out five.
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) entered in relief and went 1.1 allowing three runs (two earned) on one hit and a pair of walks, while
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) and
Drew Costello (Haddon Heights, N.J./Haddon Heights) combined for a scoreless final 1.2 innings. Costello struck out two of the three batters he faced to close the 10-run victory.
Wes Landis fell to 0-1 on the year after allowing three runs on five hits and a walk. Logan Stabli allowed six runs (three earned) on two hits and two walks, while not recording an out in the eighth inning.
Up Next
West Chester will conclude its stay in Cary tomorrow morning vs Pace at 10 a.m.
