West Chester vs East Stroudsburg
Series Details: Friday, March 21 I 1/3:30 P.M. (HOME) Saturday, March 22 I 1/3:30 P.M. (AWAY)
Location: Serpico Stadium (West Chester, Pa.)//Creekview Park (Stroudsburg, Pa.)
Coverage Links (Home): Live Stats I Video
Coverage Links (at ESU): Live Stats I Video
Series: 89-55 (4-1; W4)
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
ESU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
Jake Welsch (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) hit a two-out double into the left-center field gap to lift the West Chester University baseball team to its sixth win in a row on Tuesday over Molloy by a 4-3 final. West Chester led throughout the game after scoring runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning and getting an excellent eight-inning pitching performance from Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge), which sent the game to the ninth with West Chester holding a 3-1 lead. Needing just one more out to close out a 3-1 victory, West Chester surrendered two runs on an RBI double and an RBI single as Molloy stormed back to tie the game at 3-3 and force the bottom of the ninth. With the game appearing destined for extra innings, West Chester got a one-out single by Vaughan and had runners on first and second with two outs for Welsch, who ripped a double into the gap to score Vaughan and lift West Chester to its second walk-off win in as many games. Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) improved to 5-0 on the mound after getting the final out of the ninth inning via a strikeout after entering in relief of Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville).
Flock Talk
Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) remains first in batting average at .393 on the year with seven extra-base hits, including four doubles, two triples, and one home run. Szestowicki is second on the team in RBI with 16, trailing only Ben Bolhouse (Chadds Ford, Pa./Kennett), who leads with 21, while also ranking third in runs with 17 as Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) continues to lead the team with 23.
On the mound, Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) and Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) remain first and second on the staff wins at 5-0 and 4-0 on the year with ERAs of 1.42 and 0.82, respectively. Costa has a staff-best 28 strikeouts and has pitched two complete games already this season, with one shutout to his credit. Nick Noga (Avondale, Pa./Avon Grove) turned in what was perhaps one of his best games as a Golden Ram last Friday, twirling a complete-game shutout, which saw him carry a one-hitter for 6.2 innings. Against Queens, Noga allowed his first hit in the second inning and did not surrender another until there were two outs in the seventh when he also allowed his first walk. The junior settled down quickly after this, ending the game with a ground out to first. Noga earned PSAC East Pitcher of the Week honors for this performance after also striking out six on just 77 pitches in the victory. Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) has emerged as a weapon for the Golden Rams after back-to-back excellent midweek outings, including an eight-inning masterpiece yesterday, which saw him allow just one run on five hits while striking out six in the win over Molloy.
Rank and File
West Chester held steady in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll released earlier this week and rose to seventh in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top-25 released on Wednesday afternoon.
For its part, East Stroudsburg (14-4) is tied for 30th in the ABCA poll and 12th in the NCBWA rankings with wins in three of its last five, including a 2-1 series victory over Southern New Hampshire last weekend.
Starting Strong
West Chester gets PSAC East play underway this weekend against East Stroudsburg in a rematch of the 2022 Super Regionals and 2024 PSAC Championship game. Under head coach Mike LaRosa, West Chester is 10-4 in its first PSAC East series of the year as the Golden Rams opened East play with a 3-1 series win over Mansfield in 2021, a pair of 2-1 series wins over Mansfield and Shippensburg in 2022 and 2023 before once again taking three of four from Kutztown in 2024.
Home Cooking
West Chester is a quick 6-0 at home to open the season after defeating Wilmington and sweeping a four-game set from Queens (N.Y.) over the weekend. West Chester outscored its guests 49-10 at home last week, including a 29-2 advantage from the fifth through the seventh inning.
Power Surge
After its four-game sweep over the weekend, West Chester has now outscored teams 157-54, including a 17-11 advantage in the games played in Cary, North Carolina, earlier this season and a 49-10 advantage through its first home games of the year.
It’s An Honor
Following his complete-game victory last Friday, Noga became the latest Golden Ram to earn PSAC East Pitcher of the Week honors, following Costa and Lazer, who were honored each of the previous two weeks.
Series History
West Chester holds an 89-55 lead in the all-time series over East Stroudsburg, including a four-game winning streak against the Warriors with two wins in West Chester last spring before a pair of wins in the PSAC Tournament at Slippery Rock. West Chester has not swept the season series from the Warriors since a two-game sweep at ESU in April 2021, which was part of a five-game winning streak for the Golden Rams.
Scouting ESU
East Stroudsburg was in action against Queens (N.Y.), whom West Chester just completed a four-game sweep of the prior weekend. Queens got out to an early 2-0 lead and never trailed, using a five-run seventh inning to outpace East Stroudsburg by an 11-7 final. East Stroudsburg scored its seven runs on nine hits, led by a 2-for-5 effort from Jack Rothenhausler, who drove in two runs and scored another. Jaden Newton suffered the loss after allowing three runs on five hits and two walks as one of eight Warriors to pitch in the loss.
Dennis Pierce and Francisco Taveras are first and second on the team in batting average, batting .405 (17-for-42) and .354 (17-for-48), respectively. Pierce leads the Warriors in home runs with three, along with six doubles, 15 RBI, and 12 runs scored. Taveras leads the team in runs scored, while Shanely Wall (.313; 20-for-64) is first on the team in RBI with 21 while also scoring 16 runs through the first 18 games of the year.
On the mound, Ryan Dewees and Gavin Sopko are 3-0 and 2-1 on the team, with ERAs of 3.00 and 4.43 on the year in five starts. Sopko has a staff-best 23 strikeouts while posting an opponent's batting average of .284. Dewees has struck out 20 in a staff-best 24.0 innings of work while holding opponents to a .242 batting average.
