MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Following a win over fourth-seed University of Charleston (W.V.) to open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon, the fifth-seeded West Chester University baseball team (32-18) has shifted its attention to its next foe in Millersville (41-8) on Friday afternoon. The Golden Rams and Marauders are the final two teams standing in the Millersville Pod this weekend after West Chester defeated Charleston in the first game of the day, and the Marauders dispatched the Golden Eagles in the nightcap to bring Charleston's season to its conclusion.
Fan Information
Tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for students, children under 12, and seniors (55+), while children two and under will be admitted free of charge. Tickets are available for purchase on game day at the stadium or can be purchased in advance via this
link. As with all NCAA Tournament events, there are no complimentary tickets available.
How They Got Here
West Chester started fast in its victory over Charleston, improving to 21-6 on the year in games in which the Golden Rams score first thanks to a three-run first inning and a stellar six-inning pitching performance by freshman
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview). West Chester added two more runs in the eighth after a two-RBI double by
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway), but two was all West Chester would have needed as Costa and
David Ferguson (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) combined to hold Charleston to just one run in the victory.
In the nightcap, Charleston got out to an early lead over Millersville before the Marauders answered back and took a lead they would never relinquish en route to a 6-4 triumph over Charleston. Sam Morris had a huge day for Millersville, leading the way with five hits, including a late two-RBI double to right in the eighth, which made the score 6-2 heading to the ninth. These two additional runs seemed inconsequential at the time but proved vital as Charleston cut the lead in half with a two-run home run in the ninth. Carson Kulina got the start and picked up his eighth win of the year for Millersville, pitching 6.1 innings, scattering two runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four. Nate Young entered in relief and allowed two runs on two hits and a walk while striking out four to finish out the victory for the Marauders.
Flock Talk
As documented above, West Chester has been hard to beat when scoring first this season, playing to a record of 21-6 entering play on Friday afternoon. West Chester's victory also allowed the Golden Rams to exact revenge for a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Golden Eagles in the 2019 NCAA Tournament while also improving head coach
Mike LaRosa to 8-4 in NCAA Tournament games, after a 7-4 run through the Tournament a season ago.
PSAC East Freshman of the Year Costa got the starting nod on Thursday and did what he has done many times since joining the Golden Rams starting rotation earlier this season, delivering a standout performance, which kept the dangerous Charleston offense quiet for much of the afternoon. Ferguson entered in relief and picked up his team-best sixth save of the year in the victory, entering with a two-run lead in the seventh and pitching three shutout innings to close out the victory for West Chester.
Corey Stouffer (Souderton, Pa./North Penn) and Szestowicki tied for the team lead in RBI on Thursday afternoon, each driving in a pair of runs as two of five Golden Rams to log a hit in the victory, while
Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) logged a team-best three hits (3-for-5) in the victory.
It seems only fitting that West Chester and Millersville are set to do battle for the remainder of the weekend to determine who will play in the Super Regionals next weekend with a trip to the National Finals in Cary, North Carolina, on the line. The Golden Rams and Marauders have had one of the most competitive rivalries in the Atlantic Region for years, and it shows in the all-time series with the Marauders holding a slight 29-28 edge over WCU since 2009. Since the 2008 season, West Chester and Millersville are the lone two teams to win PSAC Eastern Division crowns, and they have combined for five Atlantic Region Titles since the 2011 season. Despite an impressive track record of success for the two Eastern Division and Regional rivals, West Chester and Millersville have met only twice in the NCAA Tournament, splitting the all-time series with one victory each. The two sides first met in 2015 in Erie as West Chester opened the NCAA Tournament that year with a 5-0 win over the Marauders before seeing Millersville end the Golden Rams season by a 7-6 final in 2018, which was also the last time WCU played in a Millersville hosted Regional.
West Chester enters tomorrow's game on a five-game winning streak over Millersville at Cooper Park, including a 6-5 win earlier this season and a doubleheader sweep of the Marauders a year ago. Head Coach
Mike LaRosa enters with a mark of 5-5 against the Marauders in his time at the helm of the Golden Rams after taking one of four from Millersville his first season, sweeping the Marauders a year ago, and going 1-2 against Millersville earlier this season. In the series against Millersville this year, all three games were decided by just one run as West Chester held off Millersville for a 6-5 win inside Cooper Park before falling to Millersville by 5-4 and 7-6 final scores inside Serpico Stadium a few days later.
Scouting Millersville
Millersville enters play on Friday following a hard-fought victory over Charleston to open the NCAA Tournament yesterday afternoon. Millersville enters play on Friday riding a three-game home winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader from Bloomsburg at the Coop to conclude the regular season before dispatching Charleston earlier today. Playing to a record of 20-2 at home this year, Millersville has been tough to beat in Cooper Park, although West Chester is one of two teams to solve the Marauders on their home field, prevailing by a 6-5 final earlier this year.
Offensively, Millersville appears dangerous as ever as the Marauders are headlined by the dangerous trio of Bren Taylor, Thomas Caufield, and Sam Morris. Taylor leads the team in batting average, batting an impressive .410 on the year with 77 hits, including 23 extra-base hits with 43 RBI and 52 runs scored. Caufield, who did perhaps the most damage of any Millersville player against WCU during the season series (6-for-12, HR, 6 RBI), leads the team in RBI with 46 and home runs with nine, is a close second to Taylor in a host of other categories, including batting average (.352), hits (64), runs (44). Morris also played remarkably well against the Golden Rams at Serpico Stadium earlier this year, logging three hits in the doubleheader while also scoring a pair and driving in another. Morris was a major catalyst in the victory over Charleston earlier this afternoon, going a perfect 5-for-5 while driving in four runs and scoring one to lead the Marauders' offense. Failing to mention the dangerous duo of leadoff hitter Jimmy Losh and Keegan Soltis would be foolish if not generally reckless for an opposing team as they both also hit north of .300 on the year, with Losh hitting .351 and Soltis batting a solid .324 as the fifth and final Marauders above .300 on the year.
On the mound, Carson Kulina, who leads the starters in ERA (2.11), wins (8), and batting average against (.233), got the start and lifted the Marauders past the Golden Eagles in the first game of the Tournament earlier today leaving the duo of Ben Wilchacky and Alex Mykut as probable starters for the remainder of the weekend. Wilchacky and Mykut are tied for second on the team in wins with seven each with ERA's of 4.27 and 4.65, respectively. Wilchacky and Mykut also both boast a batting average against below .250, hovering at .235 and .237, respectively, while Mykut leads the team in strikeouts with 67. Against West Chester earlier this season, Mykut lasted 4.2 allowing five runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in what proved to be a no-decision for him. Wilchacky was saddled with a loss against West Chester earlier this year, entering for the final six innings of the Golden Rams' win at Cooper Park, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four in the loss. Nate Young leads Millersville in saves entering the weekend, having logged three saves already this season over the course of 24.1 innings pitched, including a two-out save at West Chester earlier this season.
Up Next
With a victory, West Chester would find itself just a win away from returning to the Super Regionals, while a loss would force West Chester to win twice on Saturday afternoon for its season to continue another week. Regardless of the result in the 1 p.m. matchup tomorrow, the season will continue until at least Saturday afternoon, with West Chester and Millersville matching up in what may be the decisive game at 11 a.m. with the if-necessary game to follow 30 minutes later.
