FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Renz and Molison Homer in Season Finale Win over West Chester
MANSFIELD –
Anthony Renz and
Jacob Molison homered while
Jeremy Mapstone earned the win on the mound to lead Mansfield past visiting West Chester 8-3 Sunday afternoon in the season finale.
The Mountaineers dropped the opener 8-7 in eight innings.
In game one,
Matt Kurelja led-off the second inning with a double and moved over to third on a ground out.
Owen Lukens grounded out to third base, scoring Kurelja in the process to give Mansfield the 1-0 lead.
A lead-off, solo shot by West Chester's Dylan Tice evened the score in the top of the third. The Golden Rams added two more runs in the inning to hold a 3-1 advantage.
West Chester built its lead up to 7-1 in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on four hits and an error.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mansfield got the rally started when
Eric Schanzenbacher drew a one-out walk before
Westyn Baylor drilled a two-run homer to centerfield. Renz singled and Kurelja walked to set up
Ryan Paige's RBI double to plate Renz and put two runners in scoring position.
Zephan Kash drew a walk to load the bases before
Dave Glueck singled up the middle to drive in two more runs and bring the Mounties within a run at 7-6.
Facing last at bats in the seventh, Mansfield loaded the bases with walks by Schanzenbacher and Baylor and a single by Renz. In the next at bat, West Chester went home with a Kurelja grounder to successfully prevent the run from scoring. The Rams again went home when Paige hit a grounder to first, but an errant throw by the catcher trying to turn the double play at first allowed Renz to score the tying run from second.
Anthony Salomone drove in the eventual game-winning run for West Chester in the top of the eighth to take game one.
Mike O'Neill earned the win in relief, pitching 2.0 innings with just two hits allowed.
Chas Parsons was hit with the loss.
In game two, Mansfield started the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.
Taylor Hillson opened the inning with a walk before Baylor's single put runners on the corners. Kash's single and Paige's double brought in runs to give the Mounties an early lead.
West Chester pushed across a run in the top of the second, but the Mountaineers responded in the bottom of the inning when Schanzenbacher plated Rockwell with a sacrifice fly in foul territory.
Molison kicked-off what would be a huge fourth inning for the Mountaineers with his lead-off solo home run to left centerfield. Rockwell and Hillson each hit one-out singles with Rockwell scoring after two wild pitches. Schanzenbacher walked before Baylor plated Hillson from third with a sac fly. Renz cleared up the bases with a booming home run to left field giving Mansfield an 8-1 lead.
West Chester scored two runs in the top of the seventh, but the Mountaineer lead was too great to overcome.
Starting pitcher
Jeremy Mapstone was dealing on the mound, giving up just six hits through 6.0 innings of work while striking out a career-best eight batters.
Louis Sick closed the door on the Rams pitching the final inning with a strike out and a heads up play on a liner up the middle to end the clash of the two PSAC East clans.
Joe Gutowski took the loss for West Chester.
Mansfield concludes the 2015 season with a 14-26 overall mark and 9-19 conference record.
