WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 12/20/22 West Chester University baseball team (13-2) is preparing for its first PSAC East series of the year against Mansfield (9-10) beginning with a pair of games in West Chester on Friday afternoon, starting at 1 p.m. First pitch all weekend is set for 1 p.m., as the two teams will play doubleheaders on Friday in West Chester and on Saturday at Lycoming College, with the second game of both doubleheaders beginning around 3:30 p.m., roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
West Chester vs Mansfield
Series Details: Friday, March 20 I 1 & 3:30 P.M. (AT WCU) Saturday, March 21 I 1 & 3:30 P.M. (AT Mansfield-games played at Lycoming College)
Series: 73-45 (since 1984)
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Last Time Out
West Chester swept Gannon last week in a four-game series for the Golden Rams first four-game sweep of the season, outscoring the Golden Knights 25-10, including a pair of 9-2 and 9-5 victories on Saturday. On Sunday, West Chester followed a different formula, winning both games in the late innings with timely hitting, including a walk-off single by
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) in the seventh for a 3-2 win in game one.
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) led West Chester at the plate in this series, batting .462 (6-for-13) with four runs and four RBI, including a double and a home run, while Smith was 4-for-11 (.364) with a home run of his own and six RBI, along with a pair of runs scored.
On the mound,
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) remained unbeaten on the season with a six-inning victory to open the series, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out four.
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) finished out the series with a five-inning gem, which saw him allow just one run on two hits and a walk, while striking out four of his own.
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) was the most used Golden Ram out of the bullpen in the series, appearing three times and pitching 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out three.
Flock Talk
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) enters the weekend first on the team in most major categories, including batting average (.409; 18-for-44), runs (21), and extra-base hits (8; four doubles, four home runs). The sophomore also boasts a 1.340 OPS through 15 games this spring.
Christian Michak () is the other Golden Ram batting north of .400, as he is right at the .400 line with 14 hits, including four doubles and a triple in 35 at-bats. Michak has scored 12 runs and driven in five more and has a 1.094 OPS, which is third best on the team. Stalker is third in batting average at .385 (20-for-52) with six doubles, two triples, and a home run for a team-leading 17 RBI and 13 runs scored.
On the mound, Costa improved to 4-0 last weekend and has fanned a staff-best 22 in 24.0 innings of work, holding opponents to a .167 batting average against.
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) improved to 2-1 in relief on Sunday as he made his fourth appearance of the year and lowered his ERA to 4.30 in 14.2 innings of work. Rogers has struck out 14 and holds opponents to a .254 batting average against.
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) continues to be the pleasant surprise of the season for West Chester out of the bullpen as the two-way player, who also frequently starts at shortstop, has allowed just one run on nine hits, while striking out 15 in 8.1 innings of work with two wins in five appearances.
Chasing History
Costa enters play on Friday just three strikeouts away from tying and four from passing Frank Gailey's career strikeout record of 242 K's in his Golden Ram career from 2004-07. Costa is also now just one win away from moving into a tie for second in career wins with 27, which would match David Slusser and Fred Breidenbach. Jeff Brennan remains the career wins leader with 30 (30-13) in his career from 2002-05.
We Are Honored
Strawhecker earned PSAC East Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this season on Monday afternoon as the sophomore catcher batted .471 (8-for-17) at the plate with three home runs, two doubles, eight runs, and nine RBI in a 5-0 week for the Golden Rams last week. This included his historic three-home run, eight-RBI performance against Division I Saint Joseph's last Wednesday afternoon.
Mother Nature Knows Best
Mother Nature continues to have her way with Spring baseball schedules in the Northeast, as West Chester was forced to postpone a midweek clash with Wilmington scheduled for Wednesday afternoon due to rain, which postponed a CACC matchup for the Wildcats against Chestnut Hill to Wednesday.
Rank and File
West Chester climbed to 12
th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National poll this week, while also rising to 20
th in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll and 22
nd in the Division II Baseball (diviibaseball.com) rankings. West Chester is the top-ranked PSAC team in all three polls this week.
It's Called a Winning Streak
West Chester heads into the weekend on a six-game winning streak, including a four-game series sweep of Gannon and a 14-10 win over Division I foe Saint Joseph's in a midweek clash on March 11. During this streak, West Chester has scored nine or more runs four times and has outscored opponents 50-20 over the six games.
I Know You
Smith and
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) will both see some familiar faces this weekend as the duo transferred to West Chester from Mansfield for their sophomore campaigns over the summer.
Series History
West Chester is 73-45 against Mansfield since 1984, including a record of 36-17 at home and wins in nine of the last 10 meetings against the Mounties. West Chester dropped its regular-season finale to Mansfield last May by a 3-1 final for its first loss to the Mounties since an 8-5 setback in game one of a doubleheader (and the second game of the series) against Mansfield in Corning, New York, in March 2022. West Chester has not lost two straight to Mansfield since a series finale loss in 2007 and a 2008 loss to begin the series, with both setbacks coming in West Chester.
Scouting Mansfield
Mansfield enters play on Friday at 9-10 on the year after salvaging just one game in a three-game series at Slippery Rock last weekend. Mansfield dropped the first two games of the series on Saturday by 22-4 and 6-1 finals before splitting Sunday with a 4-2 win in game one and a 7-2 loss in the series finale. In their lone win of the weekend, Quinn Shindler (2-2) was sharp, allowing just two runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out six before Matt Rader pitched two scoreless innings with two strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season. Mansfield jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in this game, capitalizing on a throwing error and a two-RBI single to left from Kahale Burns to take an early 4-0 lead, which held up for the non-league victory.
At the plate, Slade McTigue is batting .396 (21-for-53) on the year with 15 runs and 13 RBI, while Michael Palmer is the lone other Mountie batting north of .300 at .311 (14-for-45) with 11 runs and 10 RBI, including a home run. On the mound, Shindler is 2-2 with a 3.27 ERA and a staff-best 26 strikeouts in 22.0 innings of work. Tyler Swineford is 2-1 on the year with a 2.77 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 26 innings of work, while holding opponents to a .216 batting average against.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action next weekend for a four-game series against East Stroudsburg, beginning with a pair of games on the road at ESU on Friday, followed by the series finale at home next Saturday.
