NCAA Division II Atlantic Region II Tournament Central

5/14/2019 4:01:00 PM

2019 NCAA DIVISION II ATLANTIC REGION II CHAMPIONSHIP
Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18
Serpico Stadium | West Chester, Pa.

TICKET PRICES
Adults - $7
Senior Citizens (65+) - $3
Students - $3
Child (3-12) - $2
NO COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS

TOURNAMENT LINKS
NCAA Division II Baseball | NCAA Tournament Bracket | NCAA Regional Brackets

GAME DAY COVERAGE
Live Stats | Video

ATLANTIC REGION PARTICIPANTS
No. 2 West Chester University (31-16) | Team Page | Roster | Schedule | Statistics
No. 3 Gannon University (33-16) | Team Page | Roster | Schedule | Statistics
No. 6 University of Charleston (39-17) | Team Page | Roster | Schedule | Statistics

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (DOUBLE ELIMINATION)
*All games played at Serpico Stadium in West Chester
Game 1 – Thursday, May 16 @ 2:00 p.m. | Gannon vs. Charleston - Charleston Won 12-2
Game 2 – Friday, May 17 @ 11 a.m. | West Chester vs. Gannon - Gannon Won 6-4
Game 3 – Friday, May 17 @ 2:30 p.m. | Charleston vs. West Chester - Charleston Won 3-1
Game 4 – Saturday, May 18 @ 11:00 a.m. | Charleston wins 6-1
2019 NCAA Atlantic Region II Champion: University of Charleston

WEST CHESTER NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Tournament Appearances: 15
Overall Record: 41-27 (60%)
National Championships: 2 (2012, 2017)
Regional Titles: 5
Last Regional: 2018

WEST CHESTER VS. GANNON
All-Time Record: West Chester leads 2-0
Last Meeting: West Chester won 11-1 (2019 PSAC Championship Quarterfinals)

WEST CHESTER VS. CHARLESTON
All-Time Record: West Chester leads 1-0
Last Meeting: West Chester 8-2 (3/9/07)

TOP BATS
Jared Melone: .451 (69-1153) | 43 Runs | 20 Doubles | 53 RBI | 10 Home Runs
Kyle Feaster: .383 (49-128) | 40 Runs | 14 Doubles | 22 RBI | Seven Stolen Bases
Joe Zirolli: .321 (52-162) | 41 Runs | Six Doubles | 60 RBI | 15 Home Runs

TOP ARMS
Jon Fisher: 6-3 | 3.61 ERA | 66 Strikeouts | 1.24 WHIP
Zach Rice: 6-2 | 3.18 ERA | 46 Strikeouts | Four Complete Games
David Mervis: 5-1 | 4.37 ERA | 63 Strikeouts | .226 Opponent Batting Average

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
No. 20 West Chester earned the No. 2 seed in the 2019 NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship and will play host to a three-team pod at Serpico Stadium for the first time since the 1985 season. The Golden Rams (31-14) are making their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 16th overall dating back to their first trip in 1983. WCU's 16 tournament appearances are the second most of any team in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), while the Purple & Gold's 41 tournament wins stand as the most by any conference representative. West Chester enters the NCAA Championship as one of the hottest teams in the region, as the Golden Rams ended the year by winning nine of their final 10 games. West Chester headed into the 2019 PSAC Championship as the No. 2 seed in the East and advanced to the tournament semifinals following victories over California (Pa.) (6-5) and Gannon (11-1). West Chester dropped it semifinal contest against Bloomsburg 14-3 to drop into the loser's bracket where they would square off against two-time defending tournament champion Seton Hill. West Chester trailed the Griffins 7-2 through three innings, but the Golden Rams managed to score seven runs over the next two frames to take a 10-7 advantage into the fifth. Due to weather conditions in Johnstown, West Chester's game against Seton Hill was halted in the fifth before eventually being ruled a "no contest" the following day since it did not reach the minimum inning requirement to be considered an official game. Since Bloomsburg was the only undefeated team remaining in the field on Saturday, the PSAC deemed the Huskies the 2019 Champions based on the conference's policy for a shortened tournament.

The Golden Ram's offense is powered by two-time PSAC East Athlete of the Year Jared Melone (NORTH WALES, PA./NORTH PENN). Starting all 45 games for West Chester a third base, Melone leads the conference and ranks second in NCAA DII with a .451 batting average and .423 career batting average is currently tops of the NCAA DII active leaders list. Heading into Friday's game, Melone paces the conference with a .817 slugging percentage and .532 on-base percentage, while his 20 doubles and .44 doubles per game are also tops in the league. Historically, Melone sits second on WCU's all-time career home runs list (28) and third on the all-time RBI list (163), and his current .728 career slugging percentage is the highest by any individual in program history. Across the infield from Melone, senior transfer Joe Zirolli (KENNETT, PA./KENNETT SQUARE) has had a major impact on West Chester's fortunes in his lone year with the program. A First Team All-PSAC selection in 2019, Zirolli leads the PSAC with 15 homers and 60 RBI and his 1.33 RBI/game are the most by any player in the Atlantic region. Zirolli's 15 long balls this year are the most ever by a West Chester baseball player and his .33 homers/game are the most by any PSAC representative this season. Elsewhere, the Golden Rams featured three other position players named All-PSAC this season, as Kyle Feaster (TROOPER, PA./METHACTION) earned a spot on the All-PSAC First Team, while Justin Horn (WILLOW GROVE, PA./UPPER DUBLIN) and Jon Hansen (CHERRY HILL, N.J./GEORGE MASON) both landed on the second team. On the mound, West Chester features two six-game winners in Jon Fisher (PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA./PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH) and Zach Rice (HONEY BROOK, PA./TWIN VALLEY), along with Second Team All-PSAC selection David Mervis (GATHERSBURG, MD/GONZAGA), who ended the regular season with a 5-0 mark in 11 appearances.