Baseball Eliminated From Atlantic Regional With Loss To Mercyhurst

Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – No. 10 Mercyhurst scored a pair of runs in the top of the 11th inning, and then held off a West Chester rally in the bottom half to eliminate the Golden Rams from the NCAA Atlantic Regional by a score of 6-4 at Jerry Uht Park Saturday.
 
West Chester (27-15) finishes its 2015 season with the loss while Mercyhurst (37-9) advances to play another game at 7 p.m.
 
Senior Matt Petrizzi (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan) hit a double off the wall with one man on and one out in the bottom of the 11th that came inches from tying the ballgame. However, the next batter struck out looking and the hitter after him flew out to center field to end the Rams' threat.
 
Petrizzi started the game on the mound for West Chester, but was forced to leave after injuring his arm 14 pitches into the contest. He remained in the game as the designated hitter and ended the game 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
 
With the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the seventh, the Lakers plated three runs to open up a 4-1 advantage. However, WCU senior SS Dylan Tice (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) hit a three-run homer, his 11th of the season, in the bottom half to knot things up. That is the way it stood until the 11th inning.
 
Tice finished the game 3-for-6 with three RBI, and cleanup hitter Justin Roman (Berwyn, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) was 2-for-5. West Chester's 2-3-4 hitters went a combined 8-for-16 in the game with three runs scored and four RBI.
 
Right-handed reliever Eric Close (Berwyn, Pa./Haverford) (1-3) suffered the loss on the hill for the Golden Rams. He pitched the 11th and surrendered two runs on three hits. He walked a batter and hit a batter. He was West Chester's fourth pitcher of the afternoon.
 
Senior righty Alec Schwartz (Allentown, N.J./Allentown) came on for Petrizzi in the first inning when his classmate had to leave the game. He threw six innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out two. Mike O'Neill (Brick, N.J./Brick Twp.) threw 3.1 scoreless innings to get West Chester to extra innings.
 
Anthony Salomone (Dillsburg, Pa./North York) was also 2-for-5 at the plate for the Golden Rams Saturday.