West Chester vs STAC, Wheeling, and Pace
Game Details:
VS STAC 2/28 1/3:30 PM (DH)
VS Wheeling 3/1 12 PM
VS Pace 3/2 10 AM
Location: USA Baseball National Training Complex (Cary, N.C.)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
STAC Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Wheeling Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Pace Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester split its doubleheader on Saturday to open the season, capturing game one by a 12-2 final before dropping the nightcap by a 4-3 final, after allowing three runs in the first two innings of game two. On Sunday, West Chester exacted revenge for this loss and won the series in a convincing fashion, defeating Charleston 9-2 and 10-2 to sweep the doubleheader. With that, West Chester outscored its foes 34-10 through the first four games of the season. Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) and Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett) are first and second on the team in average after the first weekend, batting .417 and .400 on the year, while Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin), Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview), and Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) all opened the season with victories on the mound.
Rank and File
West Chester climbed to eighth in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and 10th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls this week after going 3-1 and outscoring opponents 34-10 through the first four games of the season last weekend.
Southern Swing
This weekend marks West Chester’s second straight weekend trip South as the team started its season in Fairfax, Virginia, last week and heads to Cary, North Carolina, this weekend. West Chester hopes that this will not be its last trip to Cary as the Division II Baseball National Finals are held at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary each June.
Extra Time to Prepare
With Lock Haven’s move to the PSAC West, West Chester will not open PSAC East play until the weekend of March 21-22 against East Stroudsburg. West Chester will start off at home against ESU on Friday, March 21, before visiting the Warriors on Saturday, the 22nd. Prior to this, West Chester will play non-league doubleheaders at Pace and Mercy on March 7 and 8, and a home weekend set against Queens will begin on Friday, March 14, and conclude on Saturday, the 15th.
Scouting the Foes
St. Thomas Aquinas (1-3)
St. Thomas Aquinas heads into the weekend to looking to rebound from a 1-3 weekend in Myrtle Beach last week, which saw the Spartans split with Bentley (W, 13-6, L, 7-6) on opening day before falling to Franklin Pierce and Southern New Hampshire by 8-5 and 8-1 finals to conclude the weekend. C.J. Cumbo is first on the team in batting average, batting .438 (7-for-16) on the year with four RBI and four runs scored, while Kyle DeCresce bats .375 with six hits, including a double and a home run, while also driving in five runs and scoring five more. Chris Ewing and David Potenza bat north of .400 on the year, batting .417 and .400, respectively.
On the mound, Andrew Alameda has the lone win of the season after pitching 5.1, allowing five runs on five hits and five walks while striking out a pair. Andrew Schoelles also turned in a strong opening day start, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out three in six innings of work in a no-decision to get his 2025 season underway.
Wheeling (3-1)
Wheeling heads into the weekend at 3-1 on the year after winning a four-game set over Pitt-Johnstown by a 3-1 final on Sunday and Monday afternoons. Wheeling dropped its season opener by a 9-2 final on Sunday before rebounding with a 6-5 victory and sweeping a doubleheader from the Mountain Cats on Monday with 5-4 and 11-6 victories. Nicholas Schulz and Craig Spencer led the way for the Cardinals offensively, batting .300 (3-for-10) at the plate through the season's first four games. Schulz leads the team in runs scored, while Michael Norton bats .273 on the year with two home runs and four RBI to lead the team in both categories. Wheeling mixed and matched pitching throughout the weekend, with no one on staff going longer than four innings on the opening weekend. Mason Fenwick, who already has two appearances and a start under his belt despite pitching just four innings, has a 0.00 ERA and a .134 batting average against him, along with a 0.75 WHIP. At the same time, Hunter Dyck, Brock Elliot, and Lamont Akins are the lone pitchers with wins. All three have an ERA of 0.00 and WHIPs below 2.50 (2.40, 0.6, and 1.50, respectively). However, none of the three have pitched longer than two innings so far this season.
Pace (2-0)
Pace heads to Cary after a dominant doubleheader sweep of Bloomfield on Sunday, winning game one 20-0, before capturing game two by a 7-1 final in seven innings. Prior to facing West Chester on Sunday, Pace will begin its weekend with a three-game set vs D’Youville, playing the first game of the weekend on Friday before a doubleheader against D’Youville on Saturday. Sunday’s game will be the first of three against Pace this season as the Golden Rams will visit Pleasantville, New York, on Friday, March 7, for a doubleheader at 1 and 4 p.m.
In limited plate appearances, Andrew Heppner is 3-for-3 with a double and two home runs, driving in six runs and scoring five more to lead the Setters' offense. Luke Rivera and Cole Resetar are second and third on the team, batting .750 (3-for-4) and .500 (2-for-4), respectively. Resetar, who also worked three walks in the opening day sweep, is second on the team in runs scored with four early this season. On the mound, Ryan Degnan and Vincent Civitella both earned opening day victories in short (2.0 and 3.0 innings) outings against Bloomfield. Civitella was masterful in his first outing of the year, posting a .222 batting average against a 1.33 WHIP after scattering two hits and two walks, while striking out seven of nine to open the year. Pace has allowed only one run this season, showing a staff ERA of 0.56 and a batting average against of .146, striking out 24 batters in the opening doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.
