Full Rankings
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its Atlantic Region preseason poll on Monday afternoon, and West Chester was picked fourth in the region after going 35-17 and earning NCAA Atlantic Regional hosting rights once again last Spring.
East Stroudsburg, the 2025 Atlantic Regional Champions, was voted first in the preseason poll with eight first-place votes after going 41-15 last Spring en route to an appearance in the National Finals in Cary, North Carolina. Seton Hill and Millersville took second and third with 40-18 and 44-10 records last season, followed by the Golden Rams and California (Pa.) at 35-17 and 38-15, respectively. Millersville copped the lone other first-place vote in the preseason poll. Point Park was the top non-PSAC team in the rankings, sixth at 40-14 a year ago, followed by Slippery Rock (31-19), Frostburg State (36-17), Shippensburg (28-22), and West Virginia State (28-22).
Concord, Indiana (Pa.), Charleston (W.V.), Gannon, Salem, and Shepherd all received votes in the first poll of 2026.
West Chester heads into 2026 after going 35-17 overall a year ago and 17-11 in league action, which led the 2024 PSAC Champion Golden Rams back to the PSAC and NCAA Tournaments in 2025. West Chester took three of four to end the regular season against Mansfield before falling to California in the PSAC Tournament by a 7-4 final ahead of a pair of NCAA Tournament losses to Fairmont State (11-4) and East Stroudsburg (6-1).
West Chester returns several pieces from that 2025 squad, including a pair of top bats in
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) and
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), who batted .327 and .325 with seven and five home runs, respectively, in their first seasons as Golden Rams last Spring. Strawhecker earned PSAC East Rookie of the Year honors after driving in 31 runs and scoring 30 more, while also doing an excellent job behind the plate throughout his first season of collegiate baseball.
On the mound, West Chester also returns many of its arms from 2025, led by
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview), who pitched to a record of 8-3 with a 4.60 ERA and three complete games, including a no-hitter early last Spring in Cary, North Carolina. This effort led to Costa earning PSAC, NCBWA Atlantic Region, and NCBWA Division II Pitcher of the Week honors as he became the first Golden Rams since Nicholas Frank in 1947 to throw a no-hitter.
West Chester will open its 2026 campaign on February 21 with a doubleheader against Saint Anslem in Fairfax, Virginia, beginning at 12 p.m. A full preview of the 2026 Golden Rams will be available ahead of the team's opening weekend in Virginia later in February.
