PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.- The No. 7/15 West Chester University baseball team (8-2) swept a doubleheader from Pace (3-5) on Friday afternoon to sweep the three-game season series from the Setters after opening the series with a win in Cary on Sunday. West Chester cruised to a 7-1 victory in game one before posting an equally dominant 18-7 win in the nightcap on Friday afternoon.
Game One: WCU 7 Pace 1
WP: Julian Costa (3-0)
LP: Vincent Civitella (2-1)
National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Pitcher of the Week,
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview), turned in another gem on the mound, pitching another complete game, allowing just one run on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Vincent Civitella (2-1) took the loss for Pace, allowing six runs on seven hits in five innings of work, while walking two and striking out nine for his first loss of the season.
West Chester jumped out to an early lead in the first inning when
Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) singled home
Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) to make it a 1-0 lead before doubling its lead on an
Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) sac fly to give West Chester an early 2-0 lead.
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) doubled the lead in the fourth with a two-run home run to right field before
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) added a two-run shot of his own in the fifth to give the Golden Rams a 6-0 lead.
After being held hitless until the bottom of the third, Pace scored its first run of the day with a one-out solo home run to left center, but Costa was unconcerned, getting the next two outs in short order to keep the 6-1 lead intact.
West Chester got this run right back in the seventh inning when
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) started the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt before scoring on an RBI single from Spencer to make it a 7-1 lead.
Costa got his first out of the seventh on a strikeout and retired the next two without much more difficulty, getting a fly out to left and a ground out to third to close out the victory.
Game Two: WCU 18 Pace 7
WP: Taney (1-0)
LP: McCann (0-1)
After a scoreless first, West Chester plated four runs on five hits, beginning with a one-out solo home run from Stalker before three RBI doubles by Strawhecker,
Shane Adamski (Deptford, N.J./Deptford) and Vaughan gave the Golden Rams a commanding 4-0 lead.
Strawhecker continued his big day and gave West Chester a 6-0 lead in the third with a two-RBI single down the left field line as he plated Stalker and Bolhouse.
Pace cut the West Chester lead in half in the third inning on three hits, two Golden Ram errors, and a bases-loaded walk to make the score 6-3 heading into the fourth.
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) stretched the lead back to 7-3 with an RBI single up the middle, which scored Vaughan before an RBI single by Spencer plated Szestowicki to restore an 8-3 lead. Stalker extended the lead to 10-3 with a two-RBI double that scored both Spencer and Bolhouse.
West Chester tacked on seven runs in the fifth inning courtesy of an RBI groundout by Bolhouse, an RBI single by Spencer, an RBI triple by Stalker, a Setter error, an RBI double by Adamski, and a two-RBI single by Welsch.
Pace got two more runs back in the home fifth on four hits, including a pair of RBI singles, which found their way through the Golden Ram infield to make the score 17-5 heading into the sixth.
Pace got two more runs back in the home sixth before an RBI double by Szestowicki in the seventh got the lead back to 18-7 heading into the last of the seventh.
With daylight fading, West Chester worked a 1,2,3 seventh to finish out the 11-run victory.
Junior lefty Brendan McCann got the start for Pace and allowed four runs on six hits before Justin Dressler came on in relief. Dressler allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in 1.1 innings in relief.
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) got the start for West Chester and pitched the first 2.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits before
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) (1-0) entered in relief and escaped the inning with a pair of strikeouts for the last two outs of the third. Taney worked a scoreless fourth.
Drew Costello (Haddon Heights, N.J./Haddon Heights) worked the fifth, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out two, while
David Ferguson (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) worked the sixth, allowing two more runs on three hits, while also striking out a pair.
Danny Carr (Paoli, Pa./Great Valley) worked a 1,2,3 seventh inning to finish out the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester is back in action tomorrow at Mercy in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
