WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Down to its last strike in both games of a conference doubleheader, 17th-ranked West Chester clawed its way back each time to pick up one of the most unlikely of sweeps at home over seventh-ranked Millersville on a hot and sunny Thursday afternoon at Serpico Stadium.
 
The encounter between two nationally ranked rivals, who came into the game ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NCAA Atlantic Region, certainly lived up to its billing with a pair of walk-off, one-run games.
 
West Chester (37-7, 23-7 PSAC East) pulled even with Millersville (37-11, 23-7) in second place of the Eastern Division standings of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. If the Golden Rams can work at least a split with the Marauders at Cooper Park tomorrow in the final two games of the regular-season, then West Chester will earn the No. 2 seed in the East. The Purple & Gold can still technically finish in a tie for the regular-season division title and earn the 1-seed. However, it is an unlikely scenario.
 
The marathon doubleheader that took over six hours to play saw Millersville miscues in West Chester's final at bats cost the visitors in both contests. It was quite a display of determination for the home team to stay alive in the seventh inning of each game, winning the opener in nine innings, 7-6, then turning around and scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to squeeze out another win, 5-4.
 
"It was another level of toughness," West Chester head coach Mike LaRosa said. "To be mentally resilient enough to come back from a pretty large deficit with (Millersville's) No. 1 on the mound, and stick to the process."
 
The Golden Rams went into the bottom of the seventh inning in game one trailing, 6-5. John DeMucci (Swarthmore, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) singled to open the frame, and Anthony Boccio (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) sacrificed him over to second. Following a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway Regional) stepped to the plate and laced a single through the left side, with two strikes on him, that chased DeMucci around to score the tying run.
 
That sent the game into extra innings.
 
After a scoreless eighth and a scoreless top of the ninth for Millersville, West Chester continued to take advantage of good fortune to plate the game-winner in the bottom half of the ninth. The first two batters of the ninth got out. Mark Elliott (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional) pinch hit and drew a walk. Zack Miles (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) then hit a long, high fly ball to deep center field that the Marauders' center fielder camped under, but dropped, allowing Elliott to race around the bases and win the game for the Golden Rams.
 
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./Delaware Military Academy) earned the win in relief to improve to 6-1. He threw five innings of shutout ball, scattering four hits, walking two and striking out six. His performance is what enabled West Chester to get back into the game after Millersville had scored two in the first, one in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth. Simpson started putting donuts up on the board while the hitters worked their way back from a 5-1 deficit.
 
West Chester scored a pair of runs in both the third and fourth that made it a 6-5 ballgame after four.
 
"Drew Simpson did an incredible job shutting (Millersville) down and keeping us in that game late," LaRosa said.
 
Millersville's Cole Fisher (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing one unearned run on three hits in two innings of work.
 
Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) had a career-high five hits in game one and scored a pair of runs. DeMucci went 4-fo-5 as well. Throw in Joe Kaleck's (Southampton, Pa./Neshaminy) 2-for-4 and the first three batters in West Chester's lineup were a combined 11-for-14.
 
Another quick start to game two saw Millersville jump out in front 2-0 in the top of the first. However, West Chester tied it up in the bottom half when Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) hit a two-run single.
 
That's the way things stayed until Hunter Stevens hit a two-run homer to left-center in the top of the sixth, giving Millersville a 4-2 lead.
 
The Golden Rams battled back in the bottom of the seventh as Mark Elliott once again got things started with a walk in a pinch-hitting role again.
 
"Elliott did what he did in the first game, drawing a walk off of (Millersville reliever) Colby Gromlich," LaRosa noted. "That's what we needed because Gromlich is a different pitcher in the stretch."
 
Miles stepped to the plate again and lined a shot off of Gromlich's leg that ricocheted over near the first-base line. The Marauders' catcher, sliding on his back, tried to throw to first to get Miles. However, the ball ended up going down the right-field line. Elliott, once again like in game one, raced around the diamond and scored to make it 4-3. Miles ended up at third with nobody out.
 
The next two batters got out with Millersville playing the infield in. But, DeMucci hit a high-chopper to short and beat the throw, enabling Miles to score the game-tying run. DeMucci then stole second and advanced to third when the catcher threw wild down to second. Boccio delivered the heroics slicing a two-strike, two-out single to left that scored DeMucci with the winning run.
 
"I've been in a bit of slump for the last couple weeks," Boccio admitted. "But, I had to shut that out of my mind and just put the bat on the ball. (Gromlich) has a really good fastball and a pretty good change. I was just looking for that change up in the zone and get (DeMucci) home, and I got it."
 
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) picked up his fourth win of the season in relief. He got the final two outs in the top of the seventh before West Chester's rally. Starter Nick Noga (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove) pitched well for 4 2/3 innings. He allowed just two unearned runs in the first, walked one and struck out five. He yielded five hits.
 
Six different Golden Rams had a hit in game two.
 
The final two games of the four-game conference series and final two games of the regular season will take place Friday afternoon at Cooper Park in Millersville. First pitch is at 1 p.m.