WEST CHESTER, PA – West Chester University rebounded from a loss in game one to capture the nightcap of a doubleheader against Shepherd University Saturday afternoon at Serpico Stadium. With the split, the Golden Rams captured the season series with the Rams, 3 games to 1.
 
West Chester (32-6, 18-6 PSAC East) saw its school-record 21-game winning streak come to an end in the opener Saturday with a 9-7 setback to Shepherd (16-20, 11-13). However, the Golden Rams regrouped to take a 9-6 decision from the Rams in the second game. West Chester's 32 regular-season wins is tied for eighth most in school history and the most since 2016.
 
Joe Sperone (Broomall, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) tossed five strong innings in the second game, before being relieved in the sixth, to improve to 5-1 on the mound. He allowed four runs, three of them earned, on five hits. He walked two and struck out 10. Dylan Howanitz (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) and David Ferguson (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) each threw one inning of relief to close out the win. Howanitz struck out all three batters he faced in the sixth.
 
The Golden Rams scored a run in five of the six innings in which they batted. The home team scored once in the first and twic in both the third and fourth to jump out to a 5-0 lead that they would not relinquish. Shepherd got on the board with a run in the top of the fifth, but WCU answered back with one of its own. When Shepherd put up three more in the top of the sixth, West Chester came right back with three of its own in their bottom half to keep the visitors at bay. The Rams got two in the seventh, but still fell three runs shy of the home team.
 
John DeMucci's (Swarthmore, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) hit his third home run of the season in the first to put West Chester on top early. Shepherd balked home a run in the third, before Joe Kaleck (Southampton, Pa./Neshaminy) hit a sacrifice fly. Darius Troche (Shillington, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) and Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) each hit RBI singles in the fourth.
 
Shepherd got on the board in the fifth with a solo shot. But, Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway Regional) hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to preserve WCU's five-run lead, 6-1.
 
When Shepherd's Mike Guzzardo cleared the bases with a three-run double in the sixth, Kaleck smashed his team-leading seventh home run of the year, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the sixth. Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) singled in a run later that same frame. Spencer finished game two 3-for-4 with a triple. Mark Elliott (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional) was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored in his first start in center field this year. DeMucci was 2-for-3 as well with the HR and a pair of runs scored.
 
In the opener, Kaleck homered as well, scoring three runs in the loss. Szestowicki and Spencer each drove in three runs. Kaleck has now homered in three straight games. All three of his hits in the four-game series with Shepherd were home runs.
 
West Chester led 7-5 after four. But, Shepherd tied the game with two in the fifth and then added single tallies in both the sixth and seventh to come from behind and win.
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) suffered the loss in relief. He allowed one unearned run in 1 1/3 innings to fall to 3-2.
 
West Chester travels to No. 13 East Stroudsburg next Friday for a conference doubleheader against the Eastern Division-leading Warriors at Creekview Park. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.