CARY, N.C.- The West Chester University baseball team (5-1) concluded its stay in Cary with a dominant 12-2 win over Dominican (1-3) on Sunday morning at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) (2-0) earned the win in relief with a scoreless inning in relief of
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) as the freshman scattered just two hits and a walk, while striking out two in the fifth inning.
Kearns made his first start of the spring and allowed just one run on one hit and two walks, while striking out three.
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson), Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), and Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) all worked scoreless innings in relief, while
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) allowed an unearned run in his inning.
West Chester struck first with a three-run first inning with RBI singles by
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) and
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) along with a sac bunt from
Chase Jones (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) to carry a3-0 lead into the second.
Dominican got a run back in the third with a single to center before West Chester restored its three-run lead in the fifth with a daring double steal that saw Stalker swipe home as Jones took second.
In the sixth, West Chester added five runs to its lead with an RBI double by
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West), another RBI single by Stalker, a wild pitch, and a bases loaded walk, which later helped
AJ DiAddezio (Phoenixville, Pa./Pope John Paul II) pickup an RBI of his own with a sac fly to right, which gave the Golden Rams a 9-1 lead.
Dominican took advantage of a West Chester error early in the seventh to eventually score its second and final run of the game, cutting ht lead to 9-2.
West Chester added three more runs in the ninth with an RBI single by
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland), another wild pitch, which scored Raho, and an RBI double by
Sean Slowinski (Richboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood) that extended the lead to 12-2.
John Stoliker suffered his first loss of the spring as he allowed four runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out five in 4.1 innings of work. Stoliker was one of five Charger pitchers to toe the rubber in the loss on Sunday morning.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action on Tuesday in Maryland against Chestnut Hill, beginning at 3 p.m. The game is scheduled to be played on the campus of Harford County Community College.
