Box Score
WEST LAWN, Pa. - West Chester University freshman Fred Breidenbach pitched the Golden Rams to a 9-3 victory over Seton Hill at the 2010 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional late Friday night.
Breidenbach (11-2) allowed two runs in the opening inning, but held the Griffins in check for the next six frames as West Chester (38-12) advanced in the winners' bracket of the regional as the lone unbeaten team in the tournament. The Golden Rams play a team to be determined on Saturday night at 6 p.m.
With the win, Breidenbach broke the school record for wins in a single season with his 11th victory of the spring.
West Chester took control of the contest with a five-run third inning. Nick Spisak walked and Joe Wendle singled into right to start the frame. Kyle Orensky followed with a two-run double that gave the Golden Rams the lead for keeps at 3-2.
Orensky scored on a sacrifice fly by Charlie Kelly. A two-run long ball to left by Bob Stumpo capped off the five-run uprising and pushed the WCU edge to 6-2.
Both teams got on the board in the opening inning. West Chester drew first blood when Kevin McGrath and Spisak connected on back-to-back singles and Wendle lofted a sacrifice fly to plate McGrath with the opening run.
Seton Hill grabbed a short-lived 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Dave McCarthy and J.R. Tenney started things off with consecutive singles. The pair moved up on a double steal before McCarthy scored on a wild pitch by Breidenbach. Tom Deangelis then brought Tenney home with a single to center field.
Matt Baer added a run for West Chester in the fourth as his single chased across Spisak with the seventh Golden Ram tally of the night.
Brandon Wolfe's two-run homer in the sixth inning expanded the WCU margin to 9-2. Seton Hill strung together four hits in the bottom of the sixth, but could only manage one run to cut the deficit to 9-3.
Breidenbach scattered ten hits and allowed three runs in seven innings to improve to 11-2. He struck out four and walked one. The freshman overcame occasional wildness with three wild pitches and two hit batsmen. Joe Opalka worked a hitless and scoreless eighth and ninth innings for the Golden Rams.
Rick Raraigh dropped to 3-4 after suffering the loss. Raraigh, who shut down Concord's potent offense in a 4-1 WVIAC Tournament win last Friday night, didn't fare as well against the defending regional champions. He surrendered eight hits and seven runs (four earned) in three innings.
Second-seeded West Chester (38-12) received at least one hit from all nine starters as the Golden Rams rolled up a dozen hits. Wendle, Orensky, and Stumpo each contributed a pair of safeties.
WVIAC champion Seton Hill (36-20), the third seed, got two-hit efforts by Tenney, Deangelis, Nick Erminio, and Mike Leviseur. The Griffins ended with ten hits, but stranded nine runners and only managed two hits in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
West Chester advances to face an opponent yet to be determined in a 6 p.m. start on Saturday evening. Seton Hill falls into the loser's bracket and has an elimination game with PSAC champion California (Pa.) slated for 11:00 a.m.