Jacob Gumaer
Contributing Writer
Warrior baseball hit a bump in the road this past weekend, dropping a four-game series to West Chester.
After dropping three games and winning one, the Warriors’ record now sits at 35-9, maintaining a half-game lead over Millersville for the top spot in the PSAC East division.
The Warriors’ lights-out starter Brent Francisco took the mound on Saturday for the first game of the weekend, looking to continue his dominant season and a stretch of three consecutive complete-game shutouts.
Unfortunately, the West Chester Golden Rams had different plans.
Francisco conceded two runs in the top of the first inning, giving West Chester a lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.
ESU would eventually get on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a Jack Rothenhausler RBI single, but West Chester came back with two more runs of their own in the top of the seventh, securing the win in a low-scoring affair, resulting in Francisco’s first losing decision of the season.
The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader began with ESU starter Ryan Dewees getting out of an early jam, inducing an inning-ending flyout with runners on second and third.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Warrior bats came alive and a quick three runs were put on the board thanks to a RBI single from Rothenhausler and a two-RBI single from Chaise Albus.
The Warriors took the early lead and never looked back, as a five-run sixth inning capped off by a two-run homer courtesy of Shanley Wall. Dewees tossed his second complete-game shutout of the season, as the Warriors evened up the series taking game two by a score of 8-0.
The squad traveled down to the West Chester campus on Sunday for the final two games of the weekend series.
The Warriors looked to get ahead early in game three, and they did just that. A RBI single off the bat of Rothenhausler gave ESU an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
However, West Chester would even up the score in the bottom of the second inning, as ESU starter Gavin Sopko gave up an RBI single through the left side.
The score would remain knotted up at one run apiece until the seventh inning. After Sopko went five strong innings of one-run ball, and a scoreless inning from Carson Renner in relief, ESU turned to Nick McAuliffe in hopes of sending the game to extra innings.
McAuliffe, who had made the 2023 PSAC All-East team as a reliever, has done the bulk of his work this season as a starter. After six appearances as a starting pitcher to open the season, McAuliffe missed over a month of action.
Late in Sunday’s first game, the coaching staff decided to put the seventh inning in the hands of McAuliffe, who promptly gave up a leadoff single and a walk to put the winning run in scoring position.
A passed ball allowed West Chester’s Mark Elliott to advance to third, and an RBI single from leadoff hitter Evan Profy gave the Golden Rams the walk-off win.
In the final game of the weekend, the Warriors looked to stave off their first series loss of the season. True Freshman Peyton Brannock got the nod for his fifth start of the season.
After a quick two outs to start the bottom of the first inning, Brannock walked two batters and hit one to load the bases.
Another walk gave West Chester an early 1-0 lead, and then during the very next at-bat, WCU’s Casey Vaughan hit a 3-RBI triple to right fielder Mike Kelly. A throwing error by Kelly allowed Vaughan to score as well, giving the Golden Rams a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
West Chester would take the final game of the weekend handily, winning by a score of 9-2. ESU’s only runs came from a pair of RBI singles courtesy of Tim Haverstick. The 3-1 weekend marked the Warriors’ first series loss of 2024.
The Warriors look to end the regular season on a high note and gear up for the playoffs in their upcoming four-game series against Kutztown this weekend.
