WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University baseball team (35-17) appeared in the first American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Coaches Poll of the season presented by Netting Professionals as released by the ABCA on Tuesday morning. Fresh off another 35-win season and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament, West Chester grabbed the final spot in the preseason poll in a tie for 30
th with Indianapolis (34-24) as one of four PSAC teams in the top-30.
Perennial power Tampa grabbed the top spot in the poll after going 55-10 a year ago en route to its second consecutive Division II Baseball National Championship and fourth overall. Central Missouri (48-14), Lenoir-Rhyne (50-15), Texas-Tyler (49-13), and Catawba (46-14) rounded out the top five.
East Stroudsburg was the top PSAC program to earn a spot in the poll as the defending Atlantic Region Champion Warriors were picked 12
th after going 41-16 a year ago. Millersville (44-10) and Seton Hill (40-18) also joined West Chester in the top 30 in 23
rd and 28
th, respectively. California (Pa.) and Slippery Rock also received votes and are under consideration for a spot in the top 30 heading into the 2026 season.
Today's poll is the second poll of a busy week of rankings for the Golden Rams as West Chester was also ranked fourth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region preseason poll released yesterday afternoon.
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.
