Box Scores
L 4-3 (9 inn.)
L 4-1

Photo Gallery

WEST CHESTER - West Chester held off East Stroudsburg University, 4-3 (9 inn.), in the opener and prevailed 4-1 in the nightcap to take both ends of a PSAC East baseball doubleheader on Friday afternoon.

ESU (10-8, 0-2), the home team in Friday's doubleheader with all four games scheduled for WCU's Serpico Stadium, rallied to tie the opener with a run in the bottom of the seventh and had chances to win it in the eighth and ninth.

West Chester (10-3, 2-0) got a complete game from Eric Close in game two.

ESU started seniors Tyler Eckman (7.0 IP, 2 runs, 8 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks) and Ian Allen (6.1 IP, 4 runs, 3 earned, 7 hits, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks).

Eckman entered with a 3-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in 18.0 innings this spring. He was one of five qualified NCAA Division II pitchers with a 0.00 ERA entering the weekend.

GAME 1

Redshirt senior 1B Dylan Tamecki, junior C Steven Zimmerman, Jr. and redshirt freshman OF Tom Nuneviller had two hits each for ESU.

Allen walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Tamecki in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1 after WCU scored one run on three hits in the top of the frame.

WCU took a 2-1 lead on a leadoff homer by Clay Harwick in the fourth, and it remained a one-run game until the bottom of the seventh. Tamecki led off and reached on a two-base throwing error by WCU shortstop Nick Ward. Junior Charles Edwards pinch ran, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI single to left by Zimmerman.

Freshman right-hander Connor Johnson relieved Eckman in the top of the eighth, yielding a pair of singles to put the go-ahead run on third before getting out of it with two popups and a ground ball.

In the bottom of the eighth, ESU loaded the bases with nobody out but couldn't push the winning run across. Nuneviller had a leadoff double, redshirt sophomore PJ Van Orman walked and redshirt senior 2B Jay Young singled, but WCU's Josh McClain (who entered before the Van Orman walk) got a strikeout, ground ball and strikeout to end the threat.

Both teams scored in the ninth - WCU took a 3-2 lead on a leadoff homer by Drew Jarmuz and added an insurance run on a double and two-out RBI single. In the bottom half, Zimmerman hit a one-out double, Nuneviller drew a two-out walk and senior 3B Billy Sablinski had an RBI single, but Nuneviller was thrown out at second on continuing action to end the contest.

WCU's Jon Fisher threw 7.0 innings (2 runs, 1 earned, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks) and McClain earned the win in relief.

Jared Melone had three of West Chester's 13 hits.

GAME 2

ESU scored first with a run in the second inning, but West Chester scored twice in the third and twice more in the seventh to support Close, who improved to 2-0.

Allen recorded 10 of his 19 outs via strikeout for the fifth double-digit strikeout game of his career.

Redshirt senior OF Casey Saverio singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, third on a balk and scored on an RBI groundout by Sablinski for ESU's 1-0 lead in the second.

The Golden Rams scored twice, one unearned, in the top of the third. The Warriors' best chance was in the fourth, putting runners on second and third in a 2-1 game, but Close got out of the frame with a strikeout.

Close scattered six hits to six different ESU hitters and issued two walks.