Due to the field being unplayable at Millersville and an inability to be able to finish the tournament as originally scheduled by Friday, the tournament was changed to a single-eliminated format and finished on Thursday with West Chester winning the championship. Check below for recaps all the first six games and see the story above this one for a recap and box of the championship game.
50th PSAC Baseball Championship
May 5-7, 2009
Clipper Magazine Stadium
Lancaster, Pa.
Tickets
$7 - Day Pass (Adults)
$2 - Day Pass (Students)
Free - students from PSAC schools with valid student ID
Clipper Magazine Stadium
Directions and Parking Information
Live Stats for All PSAC Tournament Games
PSAC Tournament Bracket (pdf)
2009 PSAC Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 5
Game 1 - (W2) California (Pa.) 6, (E3) Shippensburg 2
Game 2 - (E1) West Chester 7, (W4) Lock Haven 3
Wednesday, May 6
At Lancaster
Game 3 - (E2) Kutztown 8, (W3) Slippery Rock 5
Game 4 - (W1) Mercyhurst 14, (E4) Mansfield 13,
Thursday, May 7
Tournament changes to single elimination
Game 5 - West Chester 12, California 11 (11)
Game 6 - Mercyhurst 9, Kutztown 2
Game 7 - West Chester 16, Mercyhurst 2 (West Chester wins 2009 PSAC Championship)
Results/Recap/Live Stats/Audio
Tuesday, May 4
Game 1 - California 6, Shippensburg 2
Ship's Live Blog
Box Score
Nick Schreiber pitched 7.1 solid innings, allowing just two unearned runs, and Mike Schmidt delivered the big blow for the Vulcans with a bases-loaded three-run double to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning as California (Pa.) topped Shippensburg 6-2 in the first game of the 2009 PSAC Tournament.
The top two hitters in Cal's lineup, Troy Handza and Sam DiMatteo, each scored two runs apiece. Shayne Busti went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Jon Selby also drove in a runfor the Vulcans. Ben Miller drove in both of Shippensburg's runs, which were both scored in the fourth inning with the benefit of a Cal error.
DiMatteo served as a catalyst for Cal's first run in the first as he drew a one-out walk, stole both second and third and then scored on Selby's single up the middle. In the top of the fourth with two outs, Kasey Kuhns reached on a throwing error by Cal after Cody Kulp had drawn a walk. Both came around to score on Miller's double down the left field line.
In the sixth, Ship starter Tim Freshour seemed to lose control as he hit the leadoff hitter and then walked three straight, but managed to record an out and not allow a run yet as he picked off a runner at second. One run scored on Busti's infield hit and then Schmidt followed with his bases-clearing double to make it 5-2. The Vulcans added their final run in the seventh on a Busti RBI single.
Sean Welsh earned the save for the Vulcans by pitching the final 1.2 innings.
Game 2 - West Chester 7, Lock Haven 3
Live Audio (Haven Sports Radio)
Live Audio (ESPN 1050 Williamsport)
Box Score
West Chester scored runs in each of the first five innings and Jason Bowman pitched seven strong innings, allowing five hits and three runs as the Golden Rams topped the Bald Eagles 7-3. West Chester advances to play Game 1 winner California while Lock Haven will take on Shippensburg in the consolation bracket.
Matt Cotellese went 2-for-3 with two runs, a home run and three RBI while Bob Stumpo went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead the West Chester offense. Matt Strouse went 2-for-4 for Lock Haven while Matt Palko hit a solo home run for the Eagles.
Cotellese's home run gave the Golden Rams a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They added to that in the second, making it 3-0 on an RBI single by Kevin McGrath that scored Stumpo, who had doubled with one out. They made it 5-0 in the third as Cotellese and Blair Dameron had back-to-back doubles to start the inning and Dameron later scored on an RBI single by Stumpo. A Cotellese sacrifice fly scored McGrath, who had led off with a double, in the fourth to make it 6-0. The Rams' two fourth-inning runs came off reliever Tyler Rumsey, who relieved starter Andrew Simonik to start the inning.
Lock Haven got three hits and scored two runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 6-2. One RBI came on a fielder's choice and the other on an infield hit when Strouse beat out a grounder down the third base line.
PHOTO BY Dan Putz
Wednesday, May 6
Game 3 - Kutztown 8, Slippery Rock 5
Live Audio (Slippery Rock)
Live Audio (Kutztown)
Box Score
Kutztown scored five runs in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie and the Golden Bears would never trail again as ace pitcher Darin Gorski struck out 15 in a 6.2-inning performance to lead the Golden Bears to an 8-5 win over Slippery Rock.
Kutztown's two and three hitters, Corey Buletza and Mike Kacelowicz, each went 3-for-5 with two RBI and cleanup hitter James Quigley went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to lead a 13-hit attack. Billy Herman went 4-for-5 and knocked in four runs for Slippery Rock while leadoff hitter Rich Michalek went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Of the 25 combined hits in the game, nine went for extra bases, including five for Kutztown.
The teams traded runs in the first inning and after Kutztown took a 2-1 lead with a run in the second, Slippery Rock later tied it 2-2 with a run in the top of the fifth. In the Kutztown fifth, the Bears began the inning with five straight hits, a Brett Widger double, a Shayne Houck single, a two-run triple by Buletza, an RBI single by Kacelowicz and an RBI single by Quigley. The fifth run of the inning would later score on a wild pitch.
After the teams traded runs in the sixth inning, Slippery Rock would score single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to move within three runs at 8-5 but reliever Trent Mertz slammed the door for the Bears, striking out three and walking none in 1.2 innings to finish off the game.
Game 4 - Mercyhurst 14, Mansfield 13
Live Audio (Mansfield)
Box Score
Jonathan Keppler's game-winning double in the bottom of the ninth scored Adam Gray with the winning run to cap a wild slugfest as Mercyhurst topped Mansfield 14-13. The game featured a combined eight pitchers, 33 hits, nine extra-base hits including three home runs, and a nine-run inning by Mansfield in the sixth.
Jamie Walczak, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs as the starting centerfielder, came on to pitch a scoreless ninth inning for Mercyhurst to earn the win after four previous Laker pitchers combined to give up all 13 runs and 18 of Mansfield's 19 hits. Chris Zelko got the loss for Mansfield after giving up the run in the ninth inning, although it was unearned due to a passed ball earlier in the inning.
Craig Denman went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs for Mercyhurst while John Blike drove in four runs and went 2-for-5 with a home run. Jeff Stoll also homered for Mercyhurst and went 2-for-5 with four RBI. For Mansfield, Kevin Miller went 6-for-6 with with a home run, four RBI and two runs out of the leadoff spot for Mansfield. Nate Grove went 5-for-6 with a pair of runs while Drew Bair had three RBI.
Mercyhurst grabbed the early lead with four runs in the first. Mansfield cut it to 4-3 with a three-run second before Mercyhurst gradually pulled away with two runs each in the second, third and fifth innings to take a 10-3 lead.
With Mercyhurst starter Steve Grife over the 100-pitch mark, Eric Aschley relieved him to start the fifth. He and two other Laker pitchers combined to give up five hits, four walks and nine runs in the inning. The Mountaineers were also aided by a passed ball, a wild pitch and a Mercyhurst error in the frame, which was capped when Miller's three-run homer to right center gave Mansfield a 12-10 lead.
Mansfield would widen the lead to 13-10 with a run in the seventh but Mercyhurst came back to tie it with three runs in the eighth off reliever Tyler Noel, who threw 5.1 innings in relief of starter Eric Rosenberg, who lasted just two innings. He held Mercyhurst scoreless in three out of his 5.1 innings of work but could not overcome a triple, walk, single and double in succession with one out in the eighth.
Thursday, May 7
Game 5 - West Chester 12, California 11
Box Score
West Chester scored a run in the bottom of the 11th inning on a pair of throwing errors to walk off the field with 12-11 win over California in the first semifinal of the PSAC Tournament. The ending capped a wild and at times bizarre game that featured a pair of lead changes, 27 combined hits, six combined errors and two rain delays.
Bret Moyer picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief as he did not allow a hit and struck out two. Sean Welsh took the tough-luck loss for the Vulcans after throwing 5.2 innings of relief and allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out five and allowed just two runs, both unearned. Sam DiMatteo had four RBI for Cal while Jon Selby went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI and Shayne Busti had three RBI and two hits, including a home run. Matt Cotellese knocked in four runs for West Chester and went 3-for-5 while Kevin McGrath scored five runs out of the leadoff spot. Number two hitter Nick Spisak went 2-for-5 with three runs and three RBI.
West Chester built a 10-3 lead through the fifth inning before Cal scored five runs in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 10-8. Mike Schmidt started the inning with a solo home run for the Vulcans and they would get five more hits in the inning.
Cal would then take the lead with three runs in the seventh, with a bases-clearing, three-run double by DiMatteo being the big blow. West Chester tied it in the bottom of the seventh as the Golden Rams were aided by a passed ball that helped to allow the run to come around.
In the bottom of the 11th, after Welsh had retired the first two hitters of the inning, McGrath drew a two-out walk. With Spisak at the plate, McGrath took off for the second and stole the base cleanly. When the throw from the catcher went into center field for an error, he took off for third, being awarded the base because of an obstruction call on the Cal shortstop. When the throw came back in from center field, the ball got away from second base and bounded into the infield. McGrath took off for home and slid in just ahead of the tag for the winning run.
Game 6 - Mercyhurst 9, Kutztown 2
Live Audio (Kutztown)
Box Score
Mercyhurst rode a strong seven-inning performance by John Mang and got a combined five hits from the top two hitters in its lineup as well as four RBI from Jeff Stoll to defeat Kutztown 9-2 to advance to the PSAC championship game in the second semifinal of the PSAC Tournament. Jonathan Keppler went 3-for-5 with three runs to pace the Lakers' 14-hit attack while Wang allowed two runs and six hits with three walks and three strikeouts to improve to 9-1 on the year.
The Lakers scored four runs in the third and two in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead and from there just rode Wang's performance and a two-inning scoreless relief stint from Nick Gillung to the victory. The two teams traded a pair of runs in the seventh and Mercyhurst added one more in the eighth.
In the third, Mercyhurst scored its four runs on four hits, all singles, and were also aided by an error. Jamie Walczak had an RBI double in the fourth and while Jeff Stoll had an RBI single. Jeff Kistle hit a two-run home for Kutztown in the seventh to account for the Golden Bears' only two runs. Kistle was the only Bear with more than one hit.