West Chester Takes Down Gannon In PSAC Tournament Opener, 5-2

Box Score

BUTLER, Pa. – Justin Roman (Berwyn, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) homered, and Nick Stallings (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) was solid over six innings, as West Chester opened the 2016 PSAC Baseball Tournament with a 5-2 victory over Gannon Sunday afternoon.
                                                                                                                    
West Chester (33-11) advances into the winners bracket to face the winner of Mercyhurst vs. Shippensburg, which is going on now, on Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
 
A three-run first inning answered a tally from the Golden Knights in their first at bats and got the Golden Rams off to a good start. Then, a two-spot in the bottom of the eighth provided the insurance that West Chester needed to pull out a win on the first day of the double-elimination tournament.
 
Roman hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the first. Nick Bateman (Aston, Pa./Malvern) followed up with a RBI groundout that gave the Rams a 3-1 lead after one. Stallings (5-2) allowed one more run in the top of the third inning, but that was as much as Gannon could muster against the senior left-hander.
 
An RBI single by Zach Sheranko (Tannersville, Pa./Pocono Mtn East) in the eighth was followed by a sacrifice fly from Bateman that pushed the Rams' lead to three (5-2). Bateman, who did not register a hit in the contest, finished with a pair of RBI. A pair of walks to Roman and Shane Dressler (York Haven, Pa./Red Land) to lead off the eighth came back to haunt the Knights.
 
Stallings threw the first six innings, giving up two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out four. He also hit a batter. Mike O'Neill (Brick, N.J./Brick Twp.), the PSAC East all-league closer, pitched the final three innings for his ninth save of the season. He did not allow a run, scattering a pair of hits and striking out one.
 
Santiago Mendez (7-3) suffered the loss on the hill for Gannon. He allowed five runs over seven-plus innings of work, surrendering six hits. He walked five and struck out five.
 
In other PSAC Tournament action Sunday, East Stroudsburg opened with a 5-2 win over Seton Hill while Millersville defeated California (Pa.), 22-4.