WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 17/25 West Chester University baseball team (32-8, 16-6) returned home on Thursday for the first two games of its weekend series with Bloomsburg (24-16, 11-11). Following its first PSAC East series sweep of the year last weekend against Shepherd, West Chester got off to a good start this week with an 8-2 win in game one and a 6-3 victory in game two behind excellent starting pitching performances by
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) and
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) along with a 5-for-6 day at the late from
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) with two doubles and four RBI that led the Golden Ram offense throughout the afternoon.
With his complete-game victory in game one, Costa also moved into a tie for first on the career win chart, matching Jeff Brennan's (2002-05) career record of 30 wins after breaking the career strikeout record earlier this season. The redshirt senior lefty also moves into a tie for fifth in league history, joining Brennan and Brent Francisco at 30 career victories. Costa also recorded his 12th career complete game on Thursday afternoon, which moved him into a tie with Fred Breidenbach for ninth in team history in his 62
nd appearance, which is sixth most in team history.
Game One: WCU 8 Bloomsburg 2
WP: Julian Costa (8-2)
LP: Brandon Wozniak (4-2)
Costa matched the Golden Rams career win record on Thursday afternoon as he scattered six hits and two unearned runs, while striking out six to improve to 8-2 on the season and pick up his 30
th career victory entering the final week of the regular season next week.
Bloomsburg scored the first run of the game in the first inning, capitalizing on a Golden Ram error, which allowed the visiting Huskies to carry a one-run lead into the second inning.
West Chester responded in the second inning with three runs on three hits, including a two-RBI double by
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) and an RBI single by
Harry Middlebrooks (Bel Air, Md./Archbishop Curley) after a two-out double by
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) sparked the comeback.
West Chester scored two more in the third on a two-RBI single by Gozdan after a leadoff double by
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) gave West Chester a commanding 5-1 lead.
West Chester clubbed back-to-back home runs in the fourth as Strawhecker hit a two-run blast, immediately followed by a solo shot by
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA), which gave West Chester an 8-1 lead.
Bloomsburg got a run back in the sixth with an RBI groundout, but this was as close as Costa allowed the visiting Huskies to get as he worked out of the inning and a 1,2,3 seventh, his first 1,2,3 inning of the day to finish off his eighth victory of the year and the 30
th of his career.
Brandon Wozniak suffered the loss for Bloomsburg, falling to 4-2 on the year as he allowed five runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out a pair in three innings.
Christian Zito entered in relief and finished the game on the mound after a rocky first inning in relief, allowing three runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out one.
Gozdan was 3-for-3 in the victory, driving in a pair of runs, while scoring another. Strawhecker was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a pair of RBI in the victory.
Game Two WCU 6 Bloomsburg 3
WP: Luke Raho (3-1)
LP: Andrew Armstrong (2-4)
S: Nick Cugino (1)
After back-to-back batters reached to start the first inning,
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) struck out his next two batters before a caught stealing on a perfect throw from
Chase Jones (Hatfield, Pa/North Penn) ended the inning and kept the game scoreless early.
West Chester plated three in the first courtesy of a pair of RBI triples by Simpson and
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) along with an RBI single by Gozdan, which gave West Chester a 3-0 lead heading into the second.
Bloomsburg got a run back in the second and third, cutting the West Chester lead to 3-2 heading into the home half of the third.
The Huskies got a leadoff double in the top of the fourth, but Raho worked around it nicely, including one of his four strikeouts on the afternoon, to keep a 3-2 lead heading into the home half of the fourth.
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) came through in the fourth with a two-out double, which scored Rozich, who had walked before scoring on an RBI single by Strawhecker to give West Chester a 5-2 lead.
Gozdan stretched the lead to 6-2 in the fifth with an RBI double to left center, which plated Smith, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Bloomsburg got a run back in the seventh, and West Chester turned to the bullpen for the first time on Friday with one out, a three-run lead, and a Bloomsburg runner on second.
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) entered in relief of Raho and got the second out via a sac bunt before getting a grounder to third to finish off the doubleheader sweep and earn his first save of the season.
Raho (3-1) battled throughout the afternoon and came two outs shy of his second complete game in as many starts as the sophomore gave West Chester 6.2 strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, while striking out four before giving way to Cugino for the final two outs.
Andrew Armstrong (2-4) delivered an important complete-game for Bloomsburg in the nightcap, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out five in six innings of work to help the Husky pitching heading into the final two games of the series in Bloomsburg tomorrow.
Gozdan had another good game at the plate in the nightcap as he was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, while Rust, Simpson, and Smith all picked up two-hit performances as well in the nightcap.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow at Bloomsburg to conclude its series with the Huskies beginning at 1 p.m.
