8th-Ranked West Chester Tops USciences In Bill Giles Classic

oe Wendle went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored, and Matt Baer hit a grand slam, to lead No. 8 West Chester to a 16-6 victory over visiting University of Sciences in the first round of the Bill Giles Classic at Serpico Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
 
Wendle tripled in a run in the first, singled in two more with the bases loaded during a seven-run third, and singled in another during a three-run fourth to lead West Chester (18-1) to the win over USciences (5-11) and advance to the championship game of the Bill Giles Classic to be held at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia next month.
 
The Golden Rams sent 13 men to the plate in the third, scoring seven runs on four hits and benefitting from five walks and one Devils error. The big inning propelled West Chester to a 9-0 lead. USciences responded with one run in the top of the fourth. However, the homestanding Rams plated three more tallies in the bottom half of the inning to open up a 12-1 advantage.
 
Four straight hits with two men out in the frame highlighted the rally. The Devils rebounded with a five-spot in the fifth that chased starter John Barr. Nick Hinkson finished up the fifth, before Dylan Porter (2-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings. Five different WCU pitchers combined to allow six runs on eight hits.
 
Jordan Wlodarczyk extended his hit streak to 12 straight games with a 2-for-3 showing, and Wendle has now reached base in 19 straight. Josh Heyne went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a pair of runs scored. Mike Raimo scored three times as well. West Chester knocked five USciences pitchers around for 16 runs on 19 hits. The Devils committed three errors.
 
Barr threw 4.1 innings, yielding six runs, only four earned, on seven hits. Hinkson got the Rams out of the fifth allowing just one hit. Porter pitched a pair of hitless innings, walking one and striking out one. Kyle Weary came on in the eighth and struck out two Devils, before giving way to Jordan Lehman in the ninth. He walked one and struck out two without allowing a hit. West Chester’s relievers did not allow a hit over the last 4.1 innings.
 
Jon McMahon was 2-for-5 for USciences. Luke Peyton (1-3) started on the mound and lasted 2.1 innings, surrendering seven earned runs on five hits while walking five.
 
West Chester hosts PSAC East rival East Stroudsburg on Friday in the first of two doubleheaders over the weekend to continue league play. Friday’s double-dip at Serpico begins at 1 p.m.