Boxscore
AUBURNDALE, Fla. – West Chester University scored the final four runs of the game Wednesday afternoon to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and hand Slippery Rock University a 6-5 loss in NCAA Division II Atlantic Region regular-season baseball action at Lake Myrtle Park.
The Rock held a 5-2 lead at the end of seven innings of action before the Golden Rams scored three runs in the top of the eighth to tie the score and a single tally in the ninth to record the win.
The win was West Chester's ninth in 10 games this spring.
SRU saw its season fall to 6-9-1 as it prepares for the final game of its annual spring-break trip to Florida, a 10 a.m. nine-inning single game Thursday vs. Winona State (Minn.), last year's Division II national runner-up.
Wednesday's loss was SRU's seventh this season by a one-run margin. Another loss came in extra innings.
The Rock took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday thanks to back-to-back sacrifice flies by
Matt Accardi and
Brandon Myers after the Green and White loaded the bases with no outs via a pair of walks and a single by
Ben Bechtol.
West Chester came right back with two runs on three hits in the top of the second inning to tie the score at 2-2.
Accardi then gave SRU a 3-2 lead with his second sacrifice fly of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Bechtol slapped a one-out double into the left-field corner and moved to third on an infield single by Myers before sprinting home on Accardi's flyout.
A two-out, two-run single to right center by
Will Kengor in the bottom of the seventh inning pushed The Rock lead to 5-2. The key hit came after The Rock had loaded the bases thanks to a leadoff walk by
Carter Haponski, a double by Shaffer and a walk by Myers.
West Chester completely erased the three-run deficit with three tallies in the top of the eighth, helped along by a pair of Rock errors. The Golden Rams were also threatening to take the lead that inning until Rock sophomore right-handed pitcher
John Kovalik, the third of four Rock pitchers used in the game, induced an inning-ending groundout with the bases loaded.
The Golden Rams then took their first lead of the game with a run in the top of the ninth that was manufactured from a hit batsman, a single and a sacrifice fly.
The Rock had the potential tying run on second base with one out in the bottom of the ninth but left the runner stranded there by a popout and a flyout by the next two hitters.
Accardi and Kengor each collected two RBIs in the game to lead The Rock in that category. Kengor, Bechtol and Shaffer each had two hits as part of a nine-hit Rock offensive attack.
Garret Peterson, the fourth and final pitcher used by veteran Rock head coach
Jeff Messer, was tagged with the loss after he allowed one earned run on one hit and struck out one batter in the final frame.
Joby Lapkowicz, who relieved starter
Anthony Naso at the start of the seventh inning, allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits, struck out two and walked two in one and two-thirds innings of work.
Naso yielded two earned runs on six hits, struck out two and walked two in the first six innings. Kovalik hit one batter in one-third of an inning.
After taking on Winona State Thursday, The Rock heads home to prepare for the start of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division schedule. SRU travels to Gannon University in Erie for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday before entertaining the Golden Knights in the first home games of the season Sunday (1 p.m. start at Jack Critchfield Park).
