PHILADELPHIA- Winners of five in a row, including a dominant weekend series sweep of Shepherd, the No. 18/28 West Chester University baseball team (29-8) is set to return to action on Tuesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park against Jefferson (19-15) in the Bill Giles Championship game beginning at 1 p.m.
West Chester vs Jefferson (Bill Giles Championship Game)
Game Details: April 21 I 1 P.M.
Location: Citizens Bank Park
Series: 42-8-1 (since 1996)
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Fan Information
Parking for the game will be available in P lot, which is located on Darien Street. Entrance into the park will be via the Home Plate VIP entrance, and tickets will be $5. Tickets can be purchased at the home plate ticketing windows on Tuesday afternoon.
Last Time Out
West Chester enters play on Tuesday riding a five-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 64-15 over those five victories, including an 11-5 win over Goldey-Beacom in non-league action on April 15 and a sweep of Shepherd this weekend, including a 24-4 win at Shepherd on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Rams scored 53 runs this weekend against Shepherd, which is the most the team has scored in a four-game weekend series against a PSAC East foe since 2021.
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) batted a team-best .600 (9-for-15) on the week with three doubles and a home run, driving in eight runs and scoring four more.
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) batted .563 (9-for-16) at the plate with two doubles and three home runs, driving in 11 runs and scoring 10 more.
On the mound, West Chester's starting pitcher earned the win in all five games this week as
Ryan DeHaven (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) earned a non-league win with three innings of work against GBC on Wednesday, while
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview), Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland), Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie), and
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) were all victorious on the weekend against Shepherd. Raho tossed the lone complete game of the week for West Chester as he allowed one run on six hits and a walk, while striking out three in seven innings against Shepherd on Friday. As a staff, West Chester posted a 2.68 ERA and struck out 44, while allowing 15 runs (11 earned) on 34 hits and nine walks in 37 innings of work as opponents batted .236 against the Golden Rams.
Flock Talk
Smith enters play on Tuesday batting .393 (42-for-107) with 13 doubles and six home runs with 39 RBI and 23 runs scored. Stalker is close behind, batting .374 on the year with 46 hits, including 23 extra-base hits (11 doubles, eight home runs, and four triples), scoring 39 runs, while driving in 41 with a team-best OPS of 1.183.
Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) is next, batting .347 with 34 runs and 24 RBI, while also going a team-best 23-for-25 on stolen base attempts.
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) is close behind at .345 with 38 hits, including 17 (eight doubles, seven home runs, and two triples) as the sophomore is tied for the longest active on-base streak on the team at 15-straight games.
On the mound, Costa improved to 7-2 over the weekend and lowered his ERA and batting average against to 2.53 and .234 as he has 52 strikeouts in 53.1 innings of work, while Lazer and Raho improved to 4-1 and 2-1 on the year, respectively. DeHaven has earned the start in each of the last two midweek games, including the Bill Giles Semifinal vs Chestnut Hill, and is 2-0 with a 4.70 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work in those two games. Out of the bullpen,
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) is 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA and a .222 batting average against with 26 strikeouts in 16.1 innings of work, including his first career save on Friday against Shepherd.
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) and
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) are first and second in appearances out of the 'pen at 14 and 13 and have records of 2-0 and 3-1 to show for it. Jones also has a team-best three saves and has struck out 16 in 13 innings of work, while Cugino has eight strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work and a 2.89 ERA as he did not surrender a run until April 4 against Kutztown when he made his ninth appearance of the year.
Giles History
West Chester has won the Bill Giles Invitational 15 times since its first edition in 2001, and the Golden Rams have won each of the last four, including a 4-1 victory over Wilmington last April. West Chester won the Invitational five years in a row from 2008-12, a streak the team will look to match on Tuesday afternoon. Jefferson enters Tuesday in search of its first Bill Giles crown since 2013 and its fourth in team history after winning the title in 2013, 2002, and 2001. The Bill Giles Classic is named in honor of former Phillies chairman and honorary NL President William (Bill) Yale Giles.
How Sweep It Is
West Chester's historic 53-run weekend powered the Golden Rams to their first PSAC East weekend series sweep of the season and second series sweep of the year, as the Golden Rams also swept a four-game set from Gannon in non-league action earlier in March.
Series History
West Chester is 42-8-1 against Jefferson since 1996 and will meet the Rams in the Bill Giles Classic for the fourth year in a row. West Chester beat Jefferson by a 4-2 final at home last March to return to the Giles Classic final after defeating the Rams in the final in both 2024 and 2023 by 9-5 (10 innings) and 5-2 finals in each of those seasons. West Chester has not lost to Jefferson since a March 26, 2006, loss at home by a 7-5 final.
Scouting Jefferson
Jefferson enters play on Tuesday at 19-15 overall and 18-9 in league play after dropping the final game of a three-game series to Holy Family yesterday by a 9-8 final in 11 innings. Jefferson took the first two games of the weekend series by 9-7 and 3-2 finals as the Rams stretched their winning streak to six in a row. Tuesday's game is the final non-league game of the season for both teams, and Jefferson will jump right back into conference action on Wednesday with a home doubleheader against Georgian Court beginning at 12 p.m.
Offensively, Andrew Holub is batting .397 on the year with 50 hits, including 12 doubles, eight home runs, and a triple, scoring 34 runs and driving in 50 more. Justin Egner is batting .366 on the year with 41 hits, including nine doubles and five triples, scoring a team-best 40 runs and driving in 27 more. Egner is also first on the team in stolen bases, as he has swiped 22 bases on 27 attempts.
On the mound, Saiben Rivera is 4-1 with a 6.81 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 37 innings of work, while Tyler Behm is 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. Patrick Karbach is 3-3 with a 4.93 ERA and a .271 batting average against with 45 strikeouts in 42 innings of action. Will Hoffman has a team-best three saves on the year but is also 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA and a .282 batting average in 19.2 innings of work.
Up Next
West Chester will jump back into PSAC East play on Friday with a doubleheader at Bloomsburg beginning at 1 p.m. before hosting the Huskies on South Campus on Saturday at 1 p.m. Saturday will also be both Senior Day and Alumni Day in West Chester, with Senior Day ceremonies expected to occur following the doubleheader.
