Lehman Pitches West Chester To First Round Win In PSAC Tournament

The following is a press release from the West Chester University Athletic Department.

West Chester University senior right-handed pitcher Jordan Lehmen pitched a complete game, five-hitter in leading the 13th-ranked Golden Rams to a 4-1 victory over Slippery Rock University in the first round of the 2012 PSAC Baseball Tournament at Pullman Park Wednesday afternoon.
 
West Chester (34-9) advances into the winners bracket and will play Kutztown (33-15) at 3:30 p.m. The Bears defeated Gannon, 5-4, in the first game in the morning. 
 
Senior shortstop Josh Heyne went 2-for-2 with one RBI, and second baseman Joe Wendle went 2-for-3 with one RBI as well.  The Golden Rams received an outstanding performance by Lehman on the hill. He struck out seven batters while walking two and hitting one. He completed the game with 111 pitches over the nine innings. 
 
“(Lehman) changed speeds and pitched well to the corners. He didn’t make any mistakes out over the middle of the plate,” first-year head coach Jad Prachniak said. “Getting a complete-game in game one allows our bullpen to stay fresh. That is huge and a good way to start the tournament.”
 
“I had good control of my fastball in the later innings,” Lehman added. “And my slider was the best it has been all year. When your offense fights for runs like they did today, all you can do is go out there and challenge hitters. All 25 guys were part of a great team win for momentum into tomorrow’s game.”
 
West Chester jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning when the Rams loaded the bases and Wendle was then hit by a pitch to drive in the first run. Chris Pula followed with a sacrifice fly that brought home Pulford from third.
 
In the sixth, Slippery Rock cut the Rams’ lead to one with a tally in the top half of the frame. However, Heyne hit a run-scoring single that plated Justin Lamborn in West Chester’s half to re-establish the two-run lead (3-1). 
 
West Chester got the bats going again in the eighth when Wendle doubled to left-center and Pula followed with a single to left, moving Wendle to third. Lamborn’s sacrifice bunt scored Wendle with an insurance tally. 
 
Tomorrow’s second-round matchup will most likely feature two of the PSAC’s top hurlers as West Chester righty, Joe Gunkel (7-0, 2.60), the Eastern Division’s pitcher of the year, and Kutztown right-hander, Dominick Ruscitti (6-2, 2.54), are the projected starters for the game.
 
“Both teams are very familiar with one another,” Prachniak concluded. “It should be a very tight game.”
 
West Chester is ranked second in the latest Atlantic Region poll while Kutztown is ranked fourth.