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West Chester 7, SNHU 3

When and Where: June 7, 2022 – Cary, N.C. (Coleman Field, USA Baseball Complex) – NCAA Div. II Championships
Score:  #8 West Chester 7 , #4 Southern New Hampshire 3
Records: SNHU 46-12,  West Chester 35-14

Cary, N.C. – Redshirt sophomore Michael LaRocca (Vero Beach, Fla.) homered and senior Angus McCloskey (Farmingdale, N.Y.) worked into the seventh inning, but SNHU let a late lead get away in a 7-3 loss to West Chester University on Tuesday at the D2 College World Series in Cary, N.C.  The loss ends the season for the Penmen at 46-12.

TOP PERFORMERS:

  • LaRocca – 1-for-2, HR, RBI, 2 BB, HBP
  • McCloskey – 6.1 IP – 8 H -2 ER – 3 BB- 4 K
  • Redshirt sophomore Cristian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.) – 2-for-5
  • Graduate student Idelson Taveras (Lawrence, Mass.) – 2-for-4

HOW IT HAPPENED:

  • The Penmen threatened in each of the first three innings, tallying three hits, two walks and a hit batter, but failed to score.
  • LaRocca (Vero Beach, Fla.) homered to lead off the fourth inning, a 402-foot shot to right center, to put the Penmen up 1-0.
  • The Penmen scored twice in the fifth to extend the lead.  Senior Sam Henrie (Middleboro, Mass.) tripled and scored on a single by redshirt sophomore Nick Schwartz (Massapequa, N.Y.) for one run.  Senior Dakota Mulcay (Goffstown, N.H.) followed with a single and LaRocca walked to load the bases.  A sacrifice fly by redshirt junior Alex Kennedy (Braintree, Mass.) made it 3-0.
  • The Golden Rams picked up a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when first baseman Mike Ferrara homered to center field to trim the lead to 3-1.
  • West Chester made it 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning by drawing a bases loaded walk, but a 5-3 double play ended the threat to keep the Penmen in front.
  • The Golden Rams scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the game, taking advantage of five hit-by-pitches, a walk, and a wild pitch to make it 7-3.
  • SNHU loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth inning, but were kept off the board by reliever Evan Snyder.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • The Penmen had at least one hit in seven of nine innings, and left 14 runners on base.
  • SNHU turned two key double plays to get out of jams in the first and seventh innings, but hit into three to end scoring threats.
  • LaRocca’s homer was his second of the season.  He missed three-quarters of the season with injuries, only returning in the East Super Regionals.
  • SNHU hit 82 home runs on the season, the most in a single-season in program history.  Five of the seven runs scored in the two games came in on home runs.

NOTES

  • This was the fourth meeting SNHU and West Chester.  The team met in the Div. II College World Series in 2012, a game won by the Golden Rams 13-7.   West Chester now leads the all-time series 4-0.
  • This was SNHU’s fourth trip in program history to the Div. II College World Series (National Championship).  SNHU also went under Head Coach Scott Loiseau in 2012, 2018, and last season.
  • Coach quote “Congratulated our guys on a great season.  They had a tough year.  We lost 2020 due to Covid.  We didn’t get on campus until March of 2021.  Then this year we only played a few games at home.   I can’t say enough about our guys, and am super proud of them.”

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