WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After taking three of four from Mansfield to open PSAC East play last weekend, the No. 11/21/22 West Chester University baseball team (16-3, 3-1) is set for its next Eastern Division challenger in longtime rival RV East Stroudsburg (14-8, 2-2). The series will begin on Friday afternoon at Creekview Park in Stroudsburg at 1 p.m. before returning to West Chester on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the final two games of the series with the Warriors.
West Chester vs East Stroudsburg
Series Details:
Friday, March 27 I 1 & 3:30 P.M. at Creekview Park (Stroudsburg, Pa.)
Saturday, March 28 I 1 & 3:30 P.M. at Serpico Stadium (West Chester, Pa.)
Series: 91-58 (2-3 in last five; L1)
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Last Time Out
West Chester saw its six-game winning streak come to a close on Friday with a 4-1 loss to Gannon in the first game of PSAC East play, but bounced back with a 12-7 win in the nightcap and a pair of 9-0 and 10-0 victories at Mansfield on Saturday to start PSAC East play 3-1.
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) hit three home runs in Friday's split, including two in the game two victory, and was 6-for-15 (.400) at the plate with three home runs, a double, seven RBI, and six runs scored.
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) batted a team-best .455 (5-for-11) with three doubles and three runs scored and two RBI, while
Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) batted .385 (5-for-13), including a home run, along with six RBI.
On the mound,
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) made history as he broke the WCU career strikeout record with his 243
rd career strikeout in the sixth inning of his first loss of the season as Mansfield capitalized on an error to take a 4-1 win in the series opener. Costa pitched 6.2 innings on Friday afternoon and allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk, while striking out five.
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) turned in the best pitching performance of the weekend for West Chester as the senior tossed a complete-game shutout on Saturday, allowing just four hits, while striking out five to pick up his second win of the season.
Flock Talk
Michak and Stalker lead West Chester at the plate, batting .396 (19-for-48) and .388 (26-for-67), respectively. Michak has scored 18 runs and driven in 11 more with six extra-base hits, including four doubles, a triple, and a home run, while Stalker has scored 19 runs and driven in a team-best 24 with seven doubles, two triples, and four home runs, including three last Friday against Mansfield. Stalker is tied for the team home run lead with
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), who is in the midst of an excellent season both at and behind the plate, batting .368 (21-for-57) with a team-best 24 runs and 18 RBI. The sophomore, who earned PSAC East Rookie of the Year honors last season, has six doubles, a triple, and four home runs, including three at Division I Saint Joseph's, to his name so far this season.
On the mound, Costa is 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a staff-best 27 strikeouts in 30.2 innings of work, including his no-hitter against Frostburg State in early March.
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) improved to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.05 with six scoreless innings against Mansfield on Saturday, and he has struck out 16 opposing hitters in 20.2 innings of work. Lazer also improved to 2-1 last weekend and lowered his ERA to 3.06 in 17.2 innings of work with a complete-game shutout win over Mansfield. Saturday's win was Lazer's longest outing of the season, as his previous best saw him work into the fifth inning against Gannon on March 15.
Out of the bullpen,
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) and
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) remain two top arms for West Chester. Rozich, who made his collegiate debut by striking out the side with bases loaded against IUP in February, is 2-0 in five appearances with a 1.08 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 8.1 innings of work, while holding opponents to a .265 batting average against. Jones is 2-0 with two saves in six appearances, with a 2.70 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings of action.
Making History
Costa took over as the career strikeout king on Friday against Mansfield, registering the 243
rd of his career in the sixth inning to pass Frank Gailey (2004-07), who had held the record of 242 since his graduation in 2007. The senior continues his climb up the wins chart, remaining one win shy of a three-way tie for second in career wins with 27 as he enters the weekend at 26-9 in his career. Fred Breidenbach (2010-14) and David Slusser (2006-09) are currently tied for second in career wins with 27, while Jeff Brennan is first with 30 wins in a team-record 298.1 innings of work.
Offensive Firepower
West Chester enters the weekend outscoring opponents 145-55 on the year, including a 31-7 margin in the final three games against Mansfield last weekend after dropping the first game of PSAC East play by a 4-1 final on Friday afternoon. West Chester outscored Mansfield 19-0 in the doubleheader sweep on Saturday and had outscored Gannon 25-10 in a four-game sweep of the Golden Knights in West Chester on March 14
th and 15
th. West Chester enters the weekend batting .296 (153-for-517) with 55 extra-base hits, including 36 doubles, 14 home runs, and five triples. The Golden Rams also boast a .902 OPS, while limiting opponents to a .228 (118-for-517) batting average and a .639 OPS.
Starting Strong
West Chester is outscoring opponents 21-5 in the first inning this season and 47-20 in the first three innings of games. With that, West Chester is 10-0 when scoring in the first inning and 11-0 when scoring first.
Lock it Down
West Chester is 15-0 when leading after the sixth inning and 1-0 when tied after six complete.
Rank and File
West Chester held steady at 22
nd in the Division II Baseball (diviibaseball.com) poll this week, while checking in at 21
st in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and 11
th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) polls this week. East Stroudsburg is receiving votes in both the ABCA and NCBWA polls this week.
West Chester and ESU also hold two of the top three spots in the NCWBA Atlantic Region poll as West Chester received all 10 first -place votes to remain atop the Regional poll, while East Stroudsburg climbed from fifth to third after splitting its four-game series with Millersville, including a home sweep on Saturday.
Series History
West Chester holds a 91-58 lead in the series over East Stroudsburg, despite dropping three of five to the Warriors last Spring, including a 6-1 loss in the NCAA Tournament in May that ended the Golden Rams' 2025 campaign. West Chester dropped the first two games of the series at ESU on March 22 by 12-3 and 11-5 finals before evening the series in West Chester with 5-3 and 4-3 victories over the Warriors to pick up the split. West Chester last won the regular-season series over ESU in 2024, taking three of four, and has not rattled off four straight wins over ESU since a pair of wins in 2022 to advance to the Division II Baseball National Finals and a pair of wins against ESU to open the 2023 series. Since 1982, West Chester is 43-14 at home against ESU and has won six of the last 10 meetings between the rivals.
Scouting ESU
East Stroudsburg opened PSAC East play last weekend with a split against Millersville, dropping both games on the road and winning both at home. The Warriors started PSAC East play with a long 8-3 loss at Millersville on Friday night, which led to the final game of the series being pushed to Monday back at Millersville, where ESU lost by a 10-3 final. In the meantime, Millersville visited Creekview Park on Saturday, and ESU won by 1-0 and 5-4 finals to improve to 10-1 at home this spring. ESU was in action in a midweek clash with Queens on Tuesday, which the Warriors won 5-4, overcoming a 3-1 deficit heading into the bottom of the fifth.
At the plate, Parker Frey is batting a team-best .383 (23-for-60) with nine extra-base hits, including seven doubles, a triple, and a home run for 17 runs and 15 RBI. Cole Serfass is batting .317 (20-for-63), which is second-best on the team with 14 runs and a team-best 17 RBI.
On the mound, Evan Hughes is 5-0 on the year with a 2.00 ERA and a .189 batting average against with 29 strikeouts in 27 innings of work, while Ryan Dewees is 2-1 on the year with a 2.54 ERA, a .221 batting average against, and a staff-best 33 strikeouts in 28.1 innings. Out of the bullpen, Jake Albert is 0-1 with four saves in six appearances with a 3.00 ERA and a .182 batting average against and six strikeouts in six innings of work.
Up Next
West Chester will begin April with a four-game series against Kutztown on Friday, April 3, at Kutztown before hosting the Golden Bears for a pair of games in West Chester on April 4.
