BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg baseball team dropped both legs of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader with No. 25/17 West Chester at Danny Litwhiler Field on Friday afternoon.
 
Bloomsburg (24-18, 11-13 PSAC East ended the twin bill with 12 hits. Four Huskies posted double digits on the day, with Jace Jarmon (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Central) leading the team with a 3-for-3 performance in the opener. Drew Balestrini (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) and Justin Weaver (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) posted a 2-for-4 stat line in game one. Grant Russo (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) accounted for both of the maroon and gold's hits in the nightcap, including a solo home run.
 
Game One – West Chester 18, Bloomsburg 7
 
West Chester (33-8, 18-6) got the scoring started in the second with a solo home run from Patrick Gozdan. The Golden Rams extended the lead to 6-0 in the third, scoring five runs on four hits.
 
The visitors posted four more runs in the fourth and recorded three in the fifth to jump ahead to a 13-0 lead.
 
Bloomsburg broke up the shutout bid in the bottom of the fifth as a hit by pitch and two singles loaded the bases for Russo. The centerfielder then brought Dylan Hirsh (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) in on a sacrifice fly for the Huskies' first run.
 
A three-run home run kickstarted a five-run sixth in for WCU to advance its lead to 18-1.
 
Bloomsburg garnered some momentum in the bottom of the frame as a pair of singles from Weaver and Anthony Trommer (Trevose, Pa./Neshaminy) led off the inning. Three consecutive walks brought two runners across the plate before a wild pitch allowed Joe Levis (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) to score the third run of the inning.
 
Balestrini led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to right centerfield. Jace Jarmon (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Central) came up to the plate with the bases loaded later in the frame and brought home Hirsh and Casey O'Brien (Moosic, Pa./Riverside) on an RBI-single through the left side. West Chester was able to cut off the Huskies' momentum there, taking game one 18-7.
 
Aiden Murphy (Mountain Top, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) was pinned with his first loss of the season, allowing six runs on five hits. The senior struck out five batters across three innings of work.
 
Game Two – West Chester 6, Bloomsburg 2
 
The nightcap got off to a better start for the Huskies as a pair of walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with two outs. Balestrini then won a lengthy, eight-pitch at-bat to walk in the opening run in Matt Freda (Lafayette, N.J./High Point Regional).
 
West Chester took the lead in the second, scoring two on an RBI-single with the bases-loaded.
 
Russo tied the game in the bottom of the frame, launching a home run into the tree in left field.
 
The contest remained tied until the top of the fourth when the Golden Rams responded with a home run of its own, jumping ahead 4-2. WCU tacked on two more runs in the seventh en route to its 6-2 victory.
 
Xander Velez (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) was tacked with the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out four.
 
Bloomsburg returns to action on Thursday, April 30 as they travel to kick off its PSAC doubleheader with Mansfield at 1 p.m.