The Golden Rams traveled to Millersville University to kick off their four-game series against the Marauders this weekend.
The first game against Millersville didn’t go as the Rams had planned. West Chester was shut out for the first time since their 2015 season. The Rams were only able to tally two hits in the afternoon.
On the mound, junior Jon Fisher had six strikeouts in six innings pitched.
In their second game against Millersville, the Rams were able to get the win. The score remained tied at 0-0 until the top of the third. Senior Shane Dressler hit a three-run homerun into right field to give the Rams the advantage. In the seventh inning, junior Jared Melone hit an RBI single to add another run on the board.
Although Millersville was able to get a few runs in, they were enough to defeat the Rams.
West Chester’s starter, freshman Zach Rice, recorded his fifth victory of the season. Rice leads the team in season victories.
Junior Andrew Scarpelli came in with the bases loaded and was able to get the Rams out of the inning with no runs scored. Scarpelli earned his first save of the season.
After two tough games, the Rams returned home to take on the Marauders again.
In game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Marauders paid for their four errors on the afternoon. With a tie-game in the second, senior Nick Ward was up to bat with two outs. Ward hit a three-run homer; his ninth home run of the season. The Rams added a few more runs, making the final score 9-5. Melone and Ward led the offense. Melone went 3-for-3 and Ward had two hits and three RBIs on four at bat.
In the final game of the four-game series, the Rams were able to defeat the Marauders again to take the series 3-1. Millersville came out swinging, leaving the Rams to come back from a 4-0 deficit in the first two innings. Although they were able to get two on the board, the Marauders answered yet again. The following inning was one for the Rams. Dressler had an RBI single to start. Then, junior Drew Jarmuz hit a three-run homer to tie the game 6-6. The Rams tallied three more runs to win the game 9-7.
Scarpelli came in and relieved the game for the Rams.
Melone lead the offense yet again, going 4-for-4. Junior Michael Deitz got his second win of the season with this victory.
Following their 3-1 series victory over Millersville, the Rams traveled to a big game at Citizens Bank Park.
Although West Chester may have lost this year’s Bill Giles Invitational, they still left with the most wins.
The loss against Wilmington dropped West Chester to 20-9. Although Wilmington started early, the Rams took a while to get started. The Rams scored their first run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Junior pinch hitter Franklin Ramirez walked in Melone to score the Rams’ one and only hit.
The Rams headed to East Stroudsburg University after the loss.
Ward and Melone came up big again for the Rams. Both players had a combined 12 RBIs on the season.
With the game tied 5-5 at the end of the seventh inning, the teams were forced into extra innings. Melone hit a two-run homer during his first at bat in extra innings. Junior Joey Coyle followed with a 2-RBI double and Ward with a RBI double also.
The eighth inning ended with the Rams up 12-5. Senior Bill Ford came in and got three straight batters to get the win.
Scarpelli had a season-high eight strikeouts in relief.
Following this match, the Rams and Warriors went on to their second game of their doubleheader. Melone hit a two-run single to knock in Ward and Webb, tying the game in the fourth. Ward also came up big in the top of the fourth, in which he scored his tenth home run of the season. The home run knocked Coyle and Webb in as well. Webb led the offensive with three hits on the afternoon.
The Rams returned home for another high-scoring match win against the Kutztown Golden Bears.
The Rams were off to an early start with Melone’s second home run of the week knocking three runs in. Later in the fourth, Dressler hit a two-run homer to bring the Rams up 8-3. Making sure the Rams kept their lead, Fisher kept the last eight batters he faced hitless.
Leading the Rams’ offense, Melone had his 20th multi-hit game of this season. Fisher had his second complete game of the season with only five hits.
In the second game against the Bears, the Rams were up 6-0 and Rice retired the first 12 batters he saw. However, the story would take a turn in the fifth inning. Three errors allowed the Bears to score all seven of their runs in the top of the fifth. Unfortunately, the Rams weren’t able to regain the lead and fell short 7-6 against the Bears.
Horn and Hansen both had two hits on the afternoon. Horn and Ward also had two runs each on the game. On the mound, Rice threw his second complete game of the year.
The third game between the two teams was nothing short of a special pitching performance.
The Rams’ Mike Cipolla threw a complete game with no runs against them and only three hits.
After two hits by pitches and a walk, the bases were loaded for Dressler. With a sac fly, Horn was able to score, giving the Rams the lead. The only other run of the game would come in the sixth with an RBI single from Jarmuz scoring Melone.
The second game of the match was much more offensive. The visiting Rams put themselves up 3-1 in the first. Melone singled in Horn and Hansen connected for a two-run single. Both Melone and sophomore Corey Webb scored again, adding to a 5-0 lead. Unfortunately, those were the only runs the Rams scored.
The Bears, however, put up six runs, giving them the win on the afternoon. Hansen went 3-for-4 on the afternoon with two RBIs. Melone is on a ten-game hitting streak following Saturday’s match.
West Chester Baseball faces off with Saint Thomas Aquinas College on April 24, and then compete against Bloomsburg in a four-game series at the end of the week, starting on April 27.
Jordan Zimmerman is a first-year student with an undeclared major. ✉ JZ885480@wcupa.edu.