MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- The No. 19/24 West Chester University baseball team (35-15) was back in action on Wednesday evening at Millersville against the second seed out of the PSAC West in California (Pa.) (34-11). West Chester held a slim 4-3 lead heading into the home half of the seventh, but the Vulcans scored three runs on four hits to erase the late deficit and earn a 7-4 victory over the third-seeded Golden Rams.
"It was a tough game, but tip your cap to Cal, they played really well," said head coach
Mike LaRosa after the loss. "We tried to use a bunch of different arms to keep them off balance because of how dangerous they are offensively. Unfortunately, it did not work out for us late, but tip your cap to them and the way they kept coming back throughout the game. I felt like we played well, but they just had some big, timely hits late in the backend of the game that made the difference. A single elimination day like this is tough because you know going in that four outstanding baseball teams are going home," said LaRosa.
Santino Marra gave Cal an early 1-0 lead in the second inning with a home run to left to give the second-seed Vulcans an early one-run advantage.
Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) led off the third inning with a single and moved to third on a perfectly-placed sac bunt from
Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) as the Vulcans got the first out of the inning.
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) drove in Spencer with an RBI groundout to short to tie the game at 1-1.
Anthony Boccio (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) doubled and advanced to third on an error to start the fourth and scored an RBI single by
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) before
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) stretched te lead to 3-1 with an RBI single of his own.
Cal answered in the fourth, loading the bases with just one out and getting both runs back via a hit-by-pitch and a fielder's choice, tying the game at 3-3 heading into the fifth.
Bolhouse did not allow the game to remain tied for long as he drove the 1-0 offering over the right field wall, giving West Chester a 4-3 lead heading into the home half of the fifth.
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) got the starting nod for West Chester and pitched the first 3.1, allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk, while striking out a pair.
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) entered with the bases loaded in the fourth and allowed the tying run to score via a fielder's choice before escaping the jam with a strikeout swinging to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Jesse Specter (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) entered in relief in the fifth and worked a scoreless inning, needing just nine pitches to work around a walk and deliver a scoreless home half of the fifth.
Gannon Kadlecik (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) delivered a scoreless inning of his own, thanks in part to another double play, the Vulcans' third of the afternoon, which kept the score locked at 4-3 heading into the seventh.
PSAC Champion Scholar, Mike Valente, worked into the seventh and was lifted after allowing a leadoff single and a fielder's choice, finishing with a final line of four runs on seven hits and one strikeout on 86 pitches.
Asked about his team's success against the Vulcans' ace, who had entered play a perfect 10-0 on the year with an ERA below 3.00, LaRosa said, "I thought we did a nice job against Valente. Our guys were locked into our approach and very disciplined. He is a pitcher who tries to get you to chase his stuff off the plate, and we really didn't do that today. One thing he is very good at, which he showed again today, was his ability to work out of jams. We got some timely hits early, but he made it hard for us to get any real separation," explained LaRosa.
Jake Kramer entered in relief and escaped the inning, keeping the deficit right where it was.
Icon Jones led off the home seventh with a triple to left, which closed the book on Kadlecik as
Nick Noga (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove) entered in relief to try and protect the Golden Ram lead. Noga got a big first out on a fly ball to left, but it was deep enough to score Jones and tie the game at 4-4. The junior got an important second out on a high pop fly in the middle of the infield. Cal got back-to-back singles up the middle to put runners on with two outs, and Nathan Meeks drove a bases-clearing double into the left center gap, which gave the Vulcans a 6-4 lead heading into the eighth.
Following a scoreless top of the eighth,
Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) entered in relief for the eighth, looking to keep the deficit right where it was and give his Golden Rams a final chance at a late comeback. James Salvatori gave the Vulcans an important insurance run with a two-out single through the left side to stretch the lead to 7-4 heading into the ninth.
Stalker led off the ninth with a walk, giving the Golden Rams late life before
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) grounded to second for the first out of the inning. It was a productive out as Cal was unable to get Stalker heading to second, opting just to get the speedy Vaughan, as West Chester found itself with a runner on second with one out in the ninth. The Vulcans escaped the ninth without any damage to hold off the upset-minded Golden Rams by a 7-4 final.
Kramer (4-0) earned the win for Cal as he pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out one in the victory.
Noga (5-4) suffered his fourth loss of the season after allowing two runs on three hits in the Vulcans' seventh-inning rally, which saw the second seed out of the PSAC West tie the game and take the lead before the Golden Rams escaped the inning.
Up Next
West Chester will now await the Division II baseball selection show on NCAA.com on Sunday night to learn where and when its 2025 season will continue.
