WCU comes alive, splits with Kutztown

In athletics, you often hear the: “we have to have short memories” cliché. But on Thursday afternoon, the West Chester baseball squad needed fullblown amnesia to put aside a Game 1 trouncing and a sizable Game 2 deficit to salvage a doubleheader split with PSAC East foe Kutztown.

The Golden Rams scored the final eight runs in a critical 8-6 nightcap triumph over the Golden Bears at windy Serpico Stadium. Kutztown prevailed 13-3 in the opener that was every bit as lopsided as the final score indicates.

“It was certainly a good win, especially coming on the heels of what happened in the first game — they put it on us pretty good,” said WCU head coach Jad Prachniak.

With the split, the Rams are 5-5 in the division race (15-8 overall). Kutztown is 4-6, 13-16.

The Bears jumped out to a 6-0 lead through two innings of Game 2, and chased West Chester starter Dalton Reed in the process. But the Rams regrouped and sent nine batters to the plate in the next inning, scored four times and began the comeback in earnest.

“We didn’t get off to a great start in Game 2, but you never feel like a lead is safe in these conditions,” said Prachniak, referencing a strong wind blowing toward left field. “Just looking at the flag in center field, I figured it would be a fairly big offensive day. Just staying the course was important there.”

Back-to -back-to -back singles got things started, and a two-run throwing error by KU pitcher Mike Kammerer kick-started the rally. A bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice f ly then pushed two more runs across.

“Even when we were down 6-0, everybody was still up in the dugout,” said sophomore outfielder Zach Sheranko. “We are a team that doesn’t give up.”

While WCU reliever Mike O’Neill was hold- ing the Bears scoreless for the final five innings, the Rams staged another four-run surge in the fifth inning. Sheranko delivered a two-run double and later scored on a two-run homer by Anthony Salomone to give West Chester the lead.

“(O’Neill) gets a good amount of ground balls, and on a day like this it’s important for somebody to get some softer contact with the way the ball was jumping into the air,” Prachniak explained.

It wasn’t over, however, until O’Neill survived the top of the seventh, thanks to a great defensive play by teammate Robert Knox, who was inserted into the lineup for defensive purposes. With a runner on first and the tying run at the plate, the Bears’ Kyle Rogers sent a towering fly ball toward the right field wall, but Knox made a leaping catch before barreling into the wall.

“If it was to left field, I would have been really worried,” Prachniak said. “You had to earn it a little more to right field. We put (Knox) into the game just for defense and he made a great play.”

The first game of the twinbill was a nightmare for the Rams, thanks to a dream outing by Kutztown outfielder Eric Lane. The freshman belted out three homers and drove in seven runs all by himself.

“It was exciting. I felt really good at the plate,” said Lane, a former Hatboro-Horsham High School standout.

“I had a multi-homer game once in high school but nothing like this. I thought I put good swings on all three of them, so I didn’t think the wind had anything to do with it.”

Lane led off the game with a solo shot, and then added a pair of three-run home runs — one in the fourth and another in the fifth inning — to make it 13-1. West Chester scored a pair in the seventh inning on a two-run homer by junior outfielder Nick Bateman.

Bateman wound up with half of WCU’s six hits in the contest and drove in all three of the Rams’ runs. But other than that, it was a forgettable outing.

“That game was its own form of ugly,” Prachniak admitted. “And by no means did we play well. But no matter how good or ugly a single game is, it’s still worth just one.

“So moving on mentally to that next game is really important. Plus, I think sometimes when you get throttled, everyone’s awareness might be elevated for the second one.”

Sheranko added: “We wanted to come out with more intensity for the next game, and that’s exactly what we did.

“We wound up getting a great win. We’ve been battling all season and that’s just what we did to get a good, quality team win.”

The Rams and Bears will conclude the four-game series on Saturday at Kutztown.