Grand slam powers WCU in opener

Jared Melone hit a grand slam, and Jon Fisher tossed eight solid innings to lift West Chester University to a 9-4 victory over North Georgia in the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday.

GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS >> Jared Melone hit a grand slam, and Jon Fisher tossed eight solid innings to lift West Chester University to a 9-4 victory over North Georgia in the opening game of the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday.

West Chester (41-11) advances into the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will play Lindenwood (Mo.) on Monday evening.

Melone’s grand slam in the bottom of the third inning erased a 3-0 lead by North Georgia (46-11). The Golden Rams later plated five runs in the seventh to break open the one-run game.

“I’m not one to (stand and stare),” Melone said. “But, I knew I got all of it.”

“That swing there on the grand slam just gave our whole team confidence,” West Chester head coach Jad Prachniak said. “And (Fisher) did a really nice job on the back end. We were hoping to get five out of him, and obviously, he gave us eight. We stretched him a little there at the end. But, he stabilized the game.

“Throughout the playoffs, when things haven’t really gone our way, this team has always responded well. We just needed one thing to get us going again, and the grand slam was certainly it.”

Fisher (8-2) threw eight strong innings, settling down after giving North Georgia a three-spot in the second.

“Give Fisher credit,” Nighthawks coach Tom Cantrell said. “We had him on the ropes early. But, he hung in there and battled really hard. We had his pitch count up to 77 in the first three innings. We just left a few opportunities out there.

“Again, give Fisher credit. I think he retired 13 batters in a row. So, we weren’t mustering much. We had two big innings bite us today. We talk about it all the time. College baseball is a long game. That seventh inning with the five-spot kinda really did us in. I’m not taking anything away from West Chester. They deserved to win today.”

Fisher allowed three runs on six hits while walking two and striking out three. Closer, Josh McClain came on in the ninth to finish. He ran into a little trouble, loading the bases and walking in a run. But, got a double-play ball to end the game and preserve the win.

“After they scored those runs in the second inning, I knew we were still in the game because this team can score runs,” Fisher added. “There were just a few adjustments that I had to make. I made them, and then I settled down from there.”

Meanwhile, North Georgia starter, left-hander Daniel McCrary (10-2), was lifted after four innings. He allowed four runs on five hits while walking two and striking out three. Cantrell sent four more pitchers to the mound – three of those during the fateful seventh when the Golden Rams scored five runs to put the game out of reach.

West Chester sent all nine batters to the plate in the seventh and had a string of four consecutive hits while five straight reached safely. Nick Ward, Nick Bateman and Drew Jarmuz had RBI singles in the inning.

Anthony Salomone was 3-for-4 in the win while Bateman had a two-run single during the Rams’ fiverun seventh.