SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.- The No. 18/28 West Chester University baseball team (29-8, 14-6) swept a doubleheader at Shepherd (24-17, 11-9) on Saturday afternoon with a 25-4 win in game one and an 18-3 win in the nightcap for the Golden Rams first PSAC East series sweep of the 2026 season.
After its first series loss of the year last weekend, West Chester picked up its first PSAC East sweep of the year this weekend with a clean four-game sweep of Shepherd, which saw the Golden Rams outscore the PSAC's southern-most member by a 54-10 final on the weekend. After picking up just one extra-base hit in the doubleheader sweep on Friday in West Chester, the Golden Rams' bats were plenty hot on Saturday as the team launched seven home runs to cruise to the series sweep.
Game One: WCU 25 Shepherd 4
WP: Kyle Lazer (4-1)
LP: Allen Miller (4-3)
West Chester opened the scoring with a pair of RBI singles in the first inning before adding another run in the second on a perfect sac bunt from
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) to take a 3-0 lead.
West Chester pushed across four more in the fourth and six in the fifth, including a three-run blast by
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) in the fourth, a Rust grand slam in the fifth, and a two-run blast by
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) just two batters later to give West Chester a commanding 13-1 lead.
Shepherd got two back via two home runs in the sixth before West Chester exploded for 12 runs on two hits, three errors, and 10 walks in the seventh to take a 25-4 lead.
West Chester got four strong innings from
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) (4-1), who earned the win, allowing one run on three hits, while walking one and striking out six.
Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) entered in relief for the fifth, while
Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) worked the sixth and seventh innings in relief.
For Shepherd, Allen Miller allowed seven runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four, in four innings of work as he fell to 4-3 on the year.
Game Two: WCU 18 Shepherd 3
WP: Kyle Kearns (2-0)
LP: Connery Chancey (2-1)
West Chester wasted little time in opening the scoring in the first inning as the Golden Rams scored four runs on three hits, including an RBI single by Simpson and a two-RBI single by
Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West), which helped the Golden Rams out to an early 4-0 lead.
West Chester added to its lead in the second with an RBI groundout by
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) and a towering two-run blast by Stalker for the Golden Rams' fourth home run of the series as West Chester carried a 7-0 lead into the home half of the second.
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) started the fourth inning with a home run on the first pitch of the frame, which extended the lead to 8-0. Stalker kept the big inning going as he doubled home two more, which quickly extended the lead to 10-0 before scoring the 11
th run as Smith followed this up with an RBI double of his own. The big inning continued with a two-run home run by
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood), an RBI single by Rozich, and an RBI groundout by Rust, which stretched the lead to 15-0.
Shepherd got a pair of runs back in the fourth via a double and a single before Stalker started the fifth with another home run, the Golden Rams' seventh of the doubleheader, which made the score 16-2.
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) got the start in the series finale and pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out eight.
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) entered in relief for the fifth and, after early trouble, delivered two scoreless innings as West Chester carried a 16-2 lead into the seventh.
West Chester added a pair in the seventh via a Gozdan double and a Michak sac fly, which extended the lead to 18-2.
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) finished the game on the mound for West Chester, allowing one run on two hits, while striking out a pair in the home half of the seventh.
Conner Chancey suffered the loss for Shepherd in the series finale, allowing four runs on three hits and a pair of walks, while striking out in his lone inning of work. Cooper Bryan was the lone Ram to work a scoreless inning in the finale, as he pitched a scoreless sixth, working around a pair of hits, while striking out one.
Up Next
West Chester will return to action on Tuesday when the Golden Rams head to Citizens Bank Park for the Bill Giles Invitational Championship game against Jefferson beginning at 1 p.m.
