KUTZTOWN, Pa.- The No. 9/20/22 West Chester University baseball team (20-5, 7-3) returned to action on Friday afternoon, looking for a doubleheader sweep of Kutztown (12-12, 4-6) for its first PSAC East series opening doubleheader sweep of the young season. The day got off to a promising start for West Chester as
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) delivered another complete-game shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts in a 6-0 game one victory and West Chester jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the nightcap but Kutztown outscored the Golden Rams 6-1 in the fourth and fifth to erase the deficit and steal a 6-5 game-two victory on Friday afternoon.
With the 6-5 setback in the nightcap, West Chester heads into Saturday in familiar territory as the Golden Rams will need at least one win tomorrow afternoon to split the season series with the Golden Bears and will be looking for a pair of victories to win their third PSAC East series of the year.
Game One: WCU 6 Kutztown 0
WP: Julian Costa (6-1)
LP: Abel Saft (2-3)
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West)) worked a walk to start the game and later scored on a wild pitch as West Chester took a 1-0 lead into the home half of the first.
Bo Barthol led off the first with a single for Kutztown, but Costa and West Chester were unfazed, working around the early runner to keep a 1-0 lead intact early.
Rust continued his big game one with a solo home run in the third before
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) singled home a pair in the third to take a 4-0 lead into the fourth.
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) added to the lead with a sac fly to center in the fourth inning, which gave West Chester a comfortable 5-0 lead.
The Golden Rams added one more run to their total in the seventh with an RBI sac bunt by Simpson, which plated Strawhecker, who had doubled to left center to lead off the top of the seventh.
Similar to his complete-game victory at ESU last Friday, Costa worked around early runners well throughout the day on Friday, scattering four hits, while striking out 12, which is a new career-high, surpassing his previous high of 11 against Shepherd in 2024.
12 strikeouts is also the most by a Golden Ram pitcher, since
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) fanned 14 against Mercy in March 2025.
With his victory, Costa also moves into sole possession of second place on the career wins chart, winning the 28
th game of his career as he continues his pursuit of Jeff Brennan's career-win record of 30.
Abel Saft (2-5) suffered the loss on Friday afternoon, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits and four walks, while striking out a pair. Cain Lusic entered in relief of Saft and finished the game on the mound, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk in two innings of work.
Strawhecker and
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) each went 2-for-3 in the victory, while Simpson recorded a team-best three RBI in a 1-for-3 day at the plate.
Game Two Kutztown 6 WCU 5
WP: Kooper Zdimal (3-0)
LP: Kyle Rogers (3-2)
S: Jeremy Fallon (2)
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) gave West Chester an early 3-0 lead with a towering three-run blast to left center in the top of the first.
Chase Jones (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) doubled to start the second inning and scored two batters later on a two-out double by Rust to give West Chester a 4-0 lead.
West Chester held a 4-0 lead into the fourth before Kutztown exploded for four runs on five hits, which closed the book on
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) as the sophomore found fourth-inning trouble once again.
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) entered in relief with two outs in the fourth and a runner on first and escaped the inning with four pitches to send the game to the fifth tied at 4-4.
West Chester did not remain tied for long, answering with a sac fly off the bat of Smith in the top of the fifth to score Simpson, who had walked to open the inning and found his way to second via a wild pitch early in the inning. This was the Golden Rams final run of the afternoon as the Golden Bears scored a pair in the fifth on three hits and a costly error to erase a 5-4 deficit and carry a slim 6-5 advantage into the top of the sixth.
Kutztown's first three batters of the fifth all recorded a hit, beginning with an Aidan Soumas double before Bo Barthol reached on a bunt single to give the Golden Bears runners on the corners with no outs. Cam Burr followed this with an RBI single into right center, which scored Soumas and Barthol scored moments later on a costly throwing error by
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton), which gave the Golden Bears their first and only lead of the day at 6-5.
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) entered in relief and worked around the runners on the corners with a pair of quick outs via a foul ball fly out to first and a strikeout swinging before escaping the inning on a fly ball to left after a hit-by-pitch of Drew Wheeler, which had loaded the bases.
Jeremy Fallon entered in relief for Kutztown in the sixth and worked around a one-out walk of
Andrew Shank (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape), which proved to be his only baserunner of the afternoon as he quieted the explosive Golden Ram offense for his second save of the season.
Kooper Zdimal found himself in trouble early, allowing four runs in the first two innings, but he settled down after this, turning in a competitive five-inning performance, scattering seven hits and four walks with his five runs, while striking out three to improve to 3-0 on the season. Fallon was excellent in relief, allowing just one baserunner via a walk, and striking out one to pick up an important six-out save.
Raho got the start for West Chester but lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, while striking out three after running into trouble in the fourth inning once again. Cugino escaped the fourth on just four pitches before
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) entered for the sixth. Rogers (3-2) suffered the loss as all four batters he faced reached safely, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. Rozich was sharp in relief, allowing just one batter to reach via a hit-by-pitch, while striking out three in two scoreless innings.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home against Kutztown, beginning at 1 p.m. for the final two games of the four-game set.
