The West Chester University Golden Rams split a doubleheader against rival East Stroudsburg on Friday, swept the Warriors at home on Saturday and beat up on University of the Sciences to advance to the championship round in the Bill Giles Tournament on Tuesday. On Saturday against the Warriors of East Stroudsburg, West Chester avenged their first loss in conference play by sweeping the East Stroudsburg 9-1 and 7-2.
Blair Dameron had a two-run single in the first and a two-run homerun in the third to lead West Chester to the blowout victory. David Slusser started for the Golden Rams and came away with his third victory of the season.
In game two, after East Stroudsburg took an early lead, West Chester scored three runs in the fourth inning and never looked back as they pulled away from the Warriors. Bret Moyer pitched a complete game as he picked up his fourth win of the season.
In game one of the doubleheader on Friday, March 20 East Stroudsburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play. In the top of the fifth inning Nick Spisak hit a sac fly that scored Bob Stumpo. Matt Cotellese drove in Josh Heyne and Kevin McGrath with an RBI double that erased the 2-0 deficit.
The Golden Rams took their 3-2 lead into the final inning of the game, however they were unable to close out East Stroudsburg. The Warriors scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and took game one 4-3 from West Chester in dramatic fashion. Jason Bowman took the loss, he finished pitching 6.1 innings giving up five hits, four runs while striking out seven.
In game two of the doubleheader the Golden Rams came from behind to win the game 6-4. After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, West Chester rebounded by scoring two runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a 6-3 lead. In the third inning captain Matt Cotellese was hit by a pitch. Cotellese later scored on an RBI triple by Dameron who then scored himself on a wild pitch.
Nick Spisak singled in the fourth inning scoring Charlie Kelly and Cotellese reached on an error that allowed McGrath to cross home plate. Kelly and McGrath each contributed an RBI in the sixth inning to give the Rams a few insurance runs. Connor Kerins earned his third win of the season; he allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out four in six innings of work. Tony Admire took the loss for the Warriors only lasting 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
In the first round of the Bill Giles Tournament West Chester slaughtered University of the Sciences (USP) 29-5, on Tuesday, March 17th. Blair Dameron had three hits and four RBI, Kyle Orensky and Charlie Kelly each finished with three hits and three RBI of their own. Nick Spisak and Orensky lead the way scoring four runs each. The Golden Rams’ got out to a quick lead scoring five runs in the top of the first. They continued scoring two in the second and fourth, before putting up a four spot in the fifth.
In West Chester’s half of the sixth inning they went on to score ten more runs, than they added three runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Brian Lawlor pitched the first four innings of the game, earning him his second win of the season. Lawlor gave up four runs, only two of the earned on five hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Steve Richter, Joe Opalka and Carmen Daddario each threw one inning in relief. Jordan Lehman came on to pitch the final two innings, striking out five USP batters. West Chester will be looking to defend their title when they take on Wilmington University in the championship round of the Bill Giles Tournament on April 14th at 4 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park.
West Chester defeated Philadelphia University by a score of 15-7 on Monday, March 16th. West Chester’s offense came alive posting five runs in the second inning to open a 6-2 lead. Despite a valiant effort from Philadelphia University, the Golden Rams’ broke out in the sixth inning, scoring eight runs to lead the game 15-5. The inning was sparked by Orensky’s three-run homer which ended the day for Philadelphia University starting pitcher Jared Farbman.
Brandon Wolfe later followed with a two-run double, Cotellese and Spisak also drove in runs in their second at-bats in the inning. Orensky went 3-for-3 with five RBI, Cotellese was 2-for-5 with a double, triple and three RBI, Wolfe finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Greg Ball received his first win of the season coming on in relief for Steve Richter. Ball pitched four innings, allowed just one run on four hits. Billy Huntzinger pitched two innings giving up two runs on three hits while walking one. Closer Eric Carmichael finished the game pitching the final three innings and earning his second save of the season.
Junior catcher Bob Stumpo was named PSAC East player of the week, it was announced by the league office last Monday afternoon. Stumpo had a batting average of .533 (8-for-15) hit two doubles, knocked in six RBI, and scored five runs. Last Saturday Stumpo hit a two-out double in the top of the eighth inning that drove in the game winning run for West Chester against Millersville.
West Chester has two home games next week, Wednesday they take on Lincoln at 3:30 p.m. and Friday the Golden Rams play host division opponent Mansfield in a doubleheader. Game one starts at 1 p.m. On Saturday they will play another doubleheader at Mansfield starting at 1 p.m.
Steven Fisher is a second-year student majoring in communications with a minor in Journalism. He can be reached at SF674180@wcupa.edu.