WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The second-seeded West Chester University baseball team (35-16) returned to the field on Thursday afternoon for its first game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament against Mountain East Conference foe Fairmont State (28-27). Hoping to eliminate the Falcons, who had fallen to East Stroudsburg by an 11-2 final earlier in the day, West Chester fell behind early and could never erase the deficit in an 11-4 setback to Fairmont State.
"We got down early and just struggled to get it going offensively," opened head coach
Mike LaRosa when asked about the loss. "Once the deficit got a little bit bigger I thought we started trying to do a little bit too much at the plate and eventually things just got out of reach. I'm kicking myself a little bit for the way I managed our arms today. I wish I had guys ready a little earlier and maybe had made some different moves, but that's how it went. That's why these Tournaments are double elimination because baseball is the sort of game that you can have a bad day but can get back at it tomorrow and get right back on track."
With this result, West Chester, Fairmont State, and East Stroudsburg all remain alive heading into the second day of the Atlantic Regional Tournament on Friday, mimicking the situation, that West Chester found itself in at this time last year with Charleston (W.V.) and Indiana (Pa.). West Chester will face East Stroudsburg tomorrow at 12 p.m. in an elimination game for the Golden Rams, while East Stroudsburg and Fairmont State are both guaranteed to continue playing until Saturday, with the Falcons earning a day off tomorrow before playing at 11 a.m. on Saturday against East Stroudsburg.
Asked about his message to his club as the team plays in an NCAA Tournament elimination game once again in 2025, LaRosa said, "We need to get back into our aggressive approach. I think we are playing a little bit apprehensive right now, and there is no room for fear in these types of games. If we can come out tomorrow, play our game, and leave it all on the field, I think we can all live with whatever that result turns out to be."
Fairmont State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first and stretched this advantage to 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) appeared to spark the WCU offense with a double to deep center field with one out in the second, but Fairmont State tight-roped out of danger to keep the Golden Rams scoreless into the fifth.
West Chester had a runner on base in each of the first four innings, but it wasn't until an RBI single by
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) in the fifth that the Golden Rams were able to do anything with these base runners. West Chester got runners on second and third in this inning with two outs after a Falcon fielding error, but the guests once again worked out of trouble to keep the West Chester offense in check.
Fairmont State tacked on another run in the seventh, and after stranding a pair of Golden Rams on the corners in the seventh, exploded for five runs on four hits, two hit-by-pitches, and a walk to take a commanding 11-1 lead into the eighth.
West Chester showed its fight in the eighth as the Golden Rams scored three runs on two hits, including another RBI single by Gozdan, along with a sacrifice fly by
Avery Spencer (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) and a wild pitch, which scored
Casey Vaughan (Springfield, Pa./Springfield), cutting the deficit to 11-4 heading into the ninth.
West Chester worked a 1, 2, 3 ninth inning, punctuated by a tremendous diving catch by
Mark Elliott (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional) to keep the deficit right where it was.
West Chester got runners on first and second to open the home half of the ninth, but a tremendous double play halted any thoughts of a rally turned on a scorching line drive off the bat of
Darius Troche (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) to finish off the 11-4 upset victory.
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) got the start and took the loss, falling to 3-2 on the year after allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three in four innings of work. DeHaven was one of six pitchers used by West Chester on Thursday afternoon as the Golden Rams used four different arms in the eighth inning alone.
Connor Tingler (3-4) earned the season-extending win for Fairmont State, pitching four strong innings in relief, allowing just four runs on three hits and four walks, working his way in and out of trouble throughout his outing. Dylan Gongola got the start and allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out two in three scoreless innings, while Mac Schnur finished the game with two scoreless innings in relief.
Up Next
West Chester will fight for its 2025 season tomorrow afternoon against East Stroudsburg, beginning at 12 p.m. Any weather-related adjustments to the start time will be communicated via the WCU Athletics X and Instagram accounts as that information becomes available.
