BEL AIR, Md.-Originally scheduled to open its 2026 season in Fairfax, Virginia later this weekend, the West Chester University baseball team (2-0) was forced to adjust due to inclement weather and found itself opening its season against Indiana (Pa.) (IUP) (0-2) at Harford County Community College for a doubleheader on Friday afternoon. West Chester captured game one by an 8-3 final behind a three-run second inning before coming from behind late to take game two by a 5-4 final.
Game One: WCU 8 IUP 3
WP: Julian Costa (1-0)
LP: Nathan Mankoski (0-1)
Ricardo Aponte gave IUP an early 1-0 lead when he turned around a 0-2 pitch with two outs from Costa in the first inning for a solo home run down the 305-foot left field line.
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./Delaware Military Academy) tied the game in the home half of the first with a single through the left side, which plated
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West), who had started his Golden Ram career with a double down the right-field line.
West Chester added three runs in the second as
Pat Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) reached on a fielder's choice, which scored
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central). West Chester kept the pressure on with a double-steal, which scored
Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West), and after a spiked throw allowed Gozdan to advance to third, which set him up to score on a wild pitch and give West Chester a 4-1 lead.
Devon Boyles cut the lead to one with a two-run shot to left of his own in the third inning, but West Chester responded with a two-RBI single from
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead.
Michak picked up the first RBI of his Golden Ram career in the fifth with a single to center before West Chester pushed across its final run of the game in the sixth on a double play ball from
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North), which scored Strawhecker, who had opened the inning with a double in the gap against new pitcher Anthony Alberty.
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) earned his first win of the season with five tough innings, scattering three runs on four hits (two home runs), while walking one and striking out four.
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) made his Golden Ram debut in relief and allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Nathan Mankoski suffered the loss for IUP, allowing six runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks, while striking out a pair.
Game Two WCU 5 IUP 4
WP: Landen Rozich (1-0)
LP: Braden Shepherd (0-1)
S: Ben Jones (1)
Strawhecker gave West Chester an early 1-0 lead with a home run to straightaway center field in the home half of the first inning.
West Chester added two in the third inning on a two-RBI single down the left-field line by Simpson, which plated both Rust and Strawhecker, who had both singled to start the inning.
Still searching for its first hit in the fourth inning, David Kessler delivered to start the inning with a line-drive single off the left field fence, but was erased quickly on a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Ricardo Aponte for two quick outs in the fourth before West Chester escaped the inning.
In the home half of the fourth, West Chester got runners on the corners with one out after a throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Gozdan before the Crimson Hawks tight-roped out of danger to keep the deficit at three.
In the fifth, IUP cut into the Golden Ram lead with an RBI double from Elijah Dunn before working three straight walks to load the bases and score a run to cut the lead to 3-2 with no outs in the fifth. Erik Rhodes tied the game with an RBI single into right field, which kept the bases loaded for the Crimson Hawks with no outs. David Kessler followed it up with an RBI single to right, which gave the Crimson Hawks their first lead of the game and second of the afternoon, making the score 4-3 before the Golden Rams had recorded an out. West Chester got a crucial first out of the fifth on the first collegiate strikeout from
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) (1-0), who entered in relief with the bases loaded and no outs. Rozich got his second and third outs via strikeout as well to help West Chester escape what had become a disastrous fifth inning with the deficit at just one.
Simpson got on base to start the fifth inning with a walk before swiping second to move one base closer to being the tying run. Stalker reached via a hit-by-pitch. With two outs, Smith laced a single up the middle to score a pair and give West Chester back a 5-4 lead.
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) entered in relief in the sixth and struck out the side to keep a one-run lead intact for the Golden Rams.
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) (Save) entered for the seventh with a one-run lead and got his first out of the frame via a strikeout, the Crimson Hawks, seventh in a row, before getting his second out via a groundout to third to help West Chester close out the doubleheader sweep.
James Bottger (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Wilkes-Barre) started the game for West Chester and worked the first 1.1 in his collegiate debut before
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) entered in relief and worked into the fifth, finishing with a final line of three runs on two hits and a pair of walks, while striking out three.
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) entered in relief of Rogers and allowed two hits and a pair of walks, eventually being charged with one run. Rozich's three strikeouts allowed him to record a scoreless first inning, and after West Chester retook the lead in the home fifth, he found himself in line for his first collegiate victory.
Brandon May got the start for IUP and pitched the first three innings, allowing six hits and a walk for three runs, while striking out a pair. Braden Shepherd suffered his first loss of the season for IUP in relief, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out one.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action in Cary, North Carolina, next weekend, beginning with a matchup against Pace on Friday morning at 11 a.m.
