The Golden Rams diamondmen took it on the chin against East Stroudsburg Saturday afternoon as they lost both ends of their PSAC East baseball doubleheader at Serpico stadium. East Stroudsburg accumulated 27 hits and rode the arms of its top two starters to sweep the Golden Rams. WCU was able to put together just eight hits off of ESU’s two aces. WCU dropped game one, 7-2, and lost the nightcap, 6-2.
Joe Wendle broke up Jeremy Gigliotti’s (4-1) perfect game in the opener with a two-out single to right field in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Chris Pula doubled off the wall in left field in the seventh, scoring WCU’s second run of the game. Wendle finished 1-for-2 with a run scored.
Joe Gunkel (3-2) tossed a complete-game for Mark Jackson’s squad. He gave up two runs in the first inning on four hits. Later on, Brian Ernst hit a three-run homer in the fifth, all of the runs that scored were unearned. Ernst finished the opener 2-for-4 with a team high five RBI for ESU.
Mike Raimo went 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored in game two. He tripled which scored Dylan Zigman in the fifth for one of WCU’s two runs that inning. Wendle later would knock in Raimo with a single to right field. Matt Zielinksi (1-3) took the loss for WCU in the nightcap.
Zielinksi lasted four innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits. He was able to work himself out of trouble in each of the first three innings as the Warriors left nine runners on base. Dylan Porter came on in relief and allowed three runs on six hits in three innings of work.
The Golden Rams went up against arguably two of the best arms that the PSAC has to offer. Coming into Saturday’s games the East Stroudsburg Warriors were ranked 30 in all of Division II baseball. East Stroudsburg relies heavily on their top pitchers who have been carrying them all year long.
The Golden Rams non-conference contest against Chestnut Hill was delayed on three different occasions for a grand total of one hour due to technical difficulties with the lights at Latchshaw Field in Norristown. WCU defeated Chestnut Hill (8-13) by a final score of 5-1 last Monday night.
The Golden Rams got the best of Chestnut Hill this season as they swept their regular-season, home-and-home series, following a 5-3 win earlier this year at Serpico Stadium. On Monday, West Chester scored three runs in the top of the first inning to get out to an early lead. Later in the game they would add two insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings to solidify the win.
Dylan Porter had his best outing this season against Chestnut Hill. Porter (3-2) threw a complete-game four-hitter; the only blemish on his line was one unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out seven Chestnut Hill batters.
Jack Provine finished the day 3-for-4 while Joe Wendle went 2-for-5. Reid Pulford finished with a pair of RBI, despite not getting a base hit. He walked with the bases loaded in the first inning to force in a run, and then hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to add an insurance run for WCU. Freshman Dylan Zigman finished the day 1-for-3 with a RBI.
The Golden Rams are back in action on Tuesday, March 12 when they will compete against Wilmington at Citizens Bank Park in the championship round of the Bill Giles Tournament at 3:30 p.m. On Wednesday, March 13 WCU will host University of the Sciences at 3:30p.m.
Over the weekend WCU will begin a home-and-home doubleheader with Mansfield starting on Friday, March 15 at Serpico stadium. On Saturday, March 16 WCU will conclude their series with two games at Mansfield.
(The statistics in this article exclude the results from Sunday March 10 contests at ESU.)
Steven Fisher is a fourth-year student majoring in communications. He can be reached at sf674180@wcupa.edu.