WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After splitting the doubleheader on Friday to open the series with East Stroudsburg (15-11, 3-5), the No. 11/21/22 West Chester University baseball team (19-4, 6-2) returned home on Sunday for the final two games of the series with the Warriors.
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) played the hero in both games for West Chester on Sunday as the sophomore infielder blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning of game one to lift West Chester to a 6-2 comeback victory before working a bases-loaded walk in the seventh in game two to help West Chester earn an 8-7 victory after trailing 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
"Any series win in the PSAC East is hard earned, and this is especially true against a team like East Stroudsburg," acknowledged head coach
Mike LaRosa. "It was great to see us get a big series win, especially with the kind of comeback win we had in game two this afternoon. We kept competing all game long, and even down five, I never felt like our energy was gone. Top-to-bottom, we did a great job continuing to battle and compete, and we were able to get ourselves back into the game with a chance to win it late. The series win this weekend was really a great team effort overall."
Game One: WCU 6 ESU 2
WP: Landen Rozich (3-0)
LP: Evan Hughes (5-1)
A vintage pitchers' duel early between Evan Hughes (5-1) and
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie), the game was scoreless through five innings.
Lazer's day finished after five innings as the senior finished with seven strikeouts against a hit and three walks in five innings of work.
East Stroudsburg scored the first runs of the game in the sixth with a two-RBI double into the right field corner off the bat of Easton Albert to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
In the home half of the sixth, West Chester loaded the bases with one out, which, after a hit by pitch of
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA), led to Hughes exiting in favor of Jake Albert, who had entered the day with a team-best four saves.
Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) tied the game with a two-out single to center, which tied the game at 2-2.
Tanner Donati (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) helped keep the inning alive as he was also hit by a pitch to reload the bases.
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) had perhaps the biggest moment of his Golden Ram career to that point following this as he battled his way to a 2-2 count and blasted a grand slam down the left field line to break the tie and give West Chester a 6-2 lead heading into the seventh.
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford), who had entered in the sixth and found himself in line for the loss heading to the bottom of the sixth, worked a scoreless seventh inning, including a caught stealing and a great catch down the right field line by
John Dunion (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) to finish off the comeback victory.
Game Two WCU 8 ESU 7
WP: Ben Jones (3-0)
LP: Johansel Brito (1-1)
Gozdan picked up his fifth RBI of the afternoon in the second inning of game two as he drove in the game's first run via a sac fly to score Michak, who had reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.
Connor Reilly erased the West Chester lead as quickly as it had arrived in the third with a towering two-run shot to left center, which gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) tied the game at 2-2 with a sac fly to right field, which scored
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West), who had walked to start the inning. East Stroudsburg worked its way out of the inning with a strikeout and a caught stealing to keep the score locked at 2-2.
East Stroudsburg started the fourth with back-to-back singles through the infield before a line drive single to left gave the Warriors back a 3-2 lead and finished
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) day as
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) entered with no outs and a pair of runners on in the fourth. Cugino nearly worked out of the inning without any further damage, but the Warriors were able to push across one more run via a fly ball, which dropped in on the right field line for an RBI single off the bat of Reilly.
Rogers finished with a final line of four runs (all earned)on five hits, while striking out one in three innings of work.
East Stroudsburg added three runs in the fifth, thanks in part to a two-run home run by Walker Zampella against
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) to take a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
West Chester got two runs back in the fifth via a fielder's choice off the bat of Stalker and an RBI double by Simpson, which chased Cade Davis, who had entered in relief of Peyton Brannock to start the fifth. Cole Dymek entered in relief of Davis, who had surrendered a quick two runs, while recording just one out. Dymek finished the inning and kept the lead at 7-4, while putting himself in line for his second win of the season.
Andrew Shank (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), who had scored as the tying run in the sixth inning of game one, blasted his first home run as a Golden Ram in the sixth inning of game two, which kept the comeback alive and cut the Warrior lead to 7-5.
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) (3-0) entered with one out and a pair of runners on in the sixth and worked out of trouble and delivered a scoreless seventh, scattering a pair of hits, while striking out three to keep the deficit right where it was heading into the home half of the seventh.
In the home half, Johansel Brito (1-1) entered in relief for East Stroudsburg, looking to preserve Dymek's win and earn his second save of the season with a 7-5 lead. Brito recorded just one out in the seventh, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks, including back-to-back walks to Donati and Gozdan to tie the game and lift West Chester to the comeback victory.
Peyton Brannock got the game two start for East Stroudsburg, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks, while striking out three in four innings of work.
West Chester started the seventh with a six-pitch walk of
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) and got runners on the corners with no outs when Stalker singled down the right field line. West Chester cut the deficit to one with an RBI single by Simpson before
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) laid down a perfect sac bunt to give West Chester runners on second and third with one out. East Stroudsburg intentionally walked Michak to load the bases for Dunion. Head coach
Mike LaRosa turned to his bench and pinch hit Donati for Dunion, who worked a seven-pitch walk to tie the game at 7-7 before Gozdan worked a six-pitch walk of his own to lift West Chester to the comeback victory.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action next weekend with a four-game set against Kutztown, beginning on the road on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
