West Chester University’s baseball squad split a day-night doubleheader against PSAC east rival Bloomsburg on a chilly day at Serpico stadium. WCU’s junior shortstop, Joe Wendle delivered a single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring Reid Pulford with the winning run in the opener. WCU was able to defeat the Huskies by a score of 5-4.
Matt Zielinski was given the nod for game one and pitched six innings for the Golden Rams. Zielinski allowed four runs, only two of which were earned, on eight hits. He walked four while striking out seven Bloomsburg batters. Brent Roehrich (2-0) came on in the seventh and retired the side in order to earn the win for West Chester.
Brandon Wolfe went 3-for-3 with a run scored and knocked in a run in game one. Pulford was 2-for-4 with a RBI in addition to scoring the game-winning run on Wendle’s base knock.
Jordan Lehman (1-3) struggled in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader. The big righty would last just two innings as Bloomsburg jumped all over him, putting up three runs in each of the first two innings. With an early 6-0 deficit, West Chester battled back with a pair of runs in the third and one more in the fourth to cut the deficit in half.
Bloomsburg then retaliated with three more runs in the fifth inning to put the game out of reach. WCU eventually would lose game two by a score of 9-3. Freshman Casey Cooperman stymied WCU batters as he struck out eight in seven innings of work.
Dylan Zigman went 1-for-3 with a RBI in the second game. Wendle finished the doubleheader 5-for-8 with four RBI, including a walk-off game-winner.
The Golden Rams were able to hold off Chestnut Hill’s late-inning rally for a 5-4 non-league baseball victory at Serpico Stadium on Tuesday, March 22. A stellar pitching performance was turned in by junior Dylan Porter and freshman Joe Gunkel.
The defense was anything but stellar, making multiple errors in the field, including a few wild pitches and pass balls which allowed the Griffins to work their way back into the game.
“We have a good defensive team overall and there will be errors like against Chestnut Hill on occasion but we just need to limit the number, and pick ourselves up offensively or on the mound to overcome defensive mistakes,” head coach Mark Jackson said.
West Chester ended a two-game losing streak that occurred last weekend when PSAC rival, Millersville took three out of four games from the Golden Rams. With last Tuesday’s loss, Chestnut Hill falls to 5-11 overall record this season. Chestnut Hill Senior pitcher Chris Lauber only lasted three innings in Tuesday’s loss.
WCU’s bats are still stagnant, but it was the pitching that impressed against Chestnut Hill. Porter (1-2) earned his first win of the season, tossing a two-hitter through seven innings and allowing just one earned run. He did run into trouble in the eighth when Chestnut Hill scored two more runs to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Jackson made a wise decision to go with the bull pen for the remainder of the game. Roerhich got the Rams out of a jam in the eighth without allowing anymore damage. Gunkel came on in the ninth to pick up the save and preserve the win. In the ninth Gunkel was able to get the final two outs with a pick-off and a game-ending strike out. Chris Pula went 2-for-4 with a triple and a pair of runs scored. Kyle Frazier contributed offensively with a pair of RBI as well.
Overall, West Chester’s three pitchers allowed just three hits on the day. “We have a strong pitching staff and one of the best in the PSAC”, Jackson said. “We have yet to have all our starters healthy and are still in the process of getting everyone out there and throwing their best.”
The Golden Rams will look to heat up their bats as they head into April with a busy schedule. On March 28 they will travel to Bloomsburg to play the back-end of a home-and-home doubleheader series against the Huskies at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. On Tuesday, March 29 WCU will host University of the Sciences in a non-league game at Serpico stadium at 3:30 p.m.
On Friday, April 1 the Golden Rams will visit Shippensburg for a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. On April 2 both teams will conclude the home-and-home doubleheader at Serpico stadium at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m.
Steven Fisher is a fourth-year student majoring in communications. He can be reached at sf674180@wcupa.edu.