WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 22 West Chester University baseball team (35-14, 17-11) wrapped up its regular season with a senior day split vs Mansfield (14-31, 8-20) as the Golden Rams won the season series 3-1 over the upset-minded Mountaineers. West Chester captured game one by a 6-3 final behind a great complete-game effort from
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) before falling victim to an equally impressive complete game effort in the nightcap, falling to the Mounties by a 3-1 final.
Following the final home doubleheader of the regular season, West Chester paused to honor its senior class, which included
Darius Troche,
Anthony Boccio,
Sean Szestowicki,
Shane Adamski,
Jake Welsch,
Casey Vaughan,
Gannon Kadlecik,
Avery Spencer, and
David Ferguson.
Game One: WCU 6 Mansfield 3
WP: Kyle Lazer (8-2)
LP: Garrett Emerick (3-6)
Mansfield took an early 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single, taking advantage of an early balk to take its first and only lead of the game.
In the second inning, West Chester got that run right back with a wild pitch, which scored
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) to tie the game at 1-1.
This is how things stayed until the fourth inning when
Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) drove a double into the left field gap to make it a 3-1 lead.
West Chester stretched its lead to 4-1 in the fifth when
Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) stole second and Strawhecker scampered home on the throw down to make it a 4-1 lead.
Mansfield countered with a pair of runs in the sixth via a sac fly and an RBI single to left center, which cut the Golden Rams lead to 4-3.
In the sixth,
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) got the lead back to two with a sac fly to deep center field, which scored
Anthony Boccio (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) before Strawhecker picked up his first RBI of the afternoon with a single through the right side to stretch the lead to 6-3.
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) picked up his eighth win of the season with another complete-game effort, which saw him allow just three runs on three hits while walking and striking out 10.
Garrett Emerick suffered the loss for Mansfield, allowing four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings of work while walking six and striking out four.
Game Two: Mansfield 3 WCU 1
WP: Austin Lewis (4-4)
LP: Patrick Taney (1-1)
Mansfield scored three first-inning runs on three hits and a wild pitch to take a 3-0 lead into the home half of the first.
West Chester got a runner to third with one out in the second inning courtesy of a passed ball that the Mansfield catcher could not locate, but the Mounties escaped the inning without allowing a run to score to keep a 3-0 lead intact.
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) got the start and suffered his first loss of the season, allowing three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out four in three innings of work.
Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) entered in relief and worked four scoreless innings with four strikeouts to keep the deficit right where it was.
Held scoreless and to just one hit through the first six innings, West Chester had late life when Strawhecker opened the seventh with a triple to left and, after an
Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) walk, West Chester had runners on the corners with no outs. Austin Lewis got his first out of the inning via a strikeout before a fielding error on a ball off the bat of
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) scored the first run and kept runners on first and second with just one out. Lewis, who improved to 4-4 on the year with the complete-game victory, tightroped out of danger with a fly ball to right and a fielder's choice to capture the 3-1 win in the series finale.
Lewis was excellent for Mansfield on Friday afternoon, allowing just one run on two hits and five walks while striking out seven on 101 pitches.
Up Next
West Chester will now begin preparing for the PSAC Tournament, which will start on Wednesday at Millersville. West Chester will enter as the third seed in the PSAC East and will face the second seed in the PSAC West when that seeding is officially determined later this weekend.
