WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following a thrilling doubleheader sweep of Kutztown on Saturday, the No. 9/20/22 West Chester University baseball team (22-5) is set to return to action on Monday for a non-league clash against Chestnut Hill (14-12) at Serpico Stadium beginning at 3 p.m. Monday's game is a rescheduled game from early March and is the Bill Giles Classic semifinal as the winner will advance to Citizens Bank Park on April 21 to take on Jefferson beginning at 1 p.m.
West Chester vs Chestnut Hill
Game Details: April 6 I 3 P.M.
Location: Serpico Stadium (West Chester, Pa.
Series: 9-1
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
CHC Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester went 3-1 for the third weekend in a row with a series win over Kutztown after splitting the first two games of the series for the third weekend in a row as well before sweeping the final doubleheader of the series.
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) had a great series at the plate for West Chester, batting .455 (5-for-11) on the weekend with seven RBI and four runs, including a double and a three-run home run.
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) batted .385 (5-for-13) in the series with two doubles and a triple, scoring four runs and driving in another.
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) finished the series second on the team in RBI with six after picking up four on Saturday alone as he was 4-for-12 (.333) at the plate on the weekend with a double and a home run along with the game-winning sac fly in the series as West Chester erased a four-run deficit in the seventh after surrendering seven runs in the top half of the inning.
On the mound,
Julian Costa (Manuta, N.J./Clearview) turned in the top pitching performance of the weekend as he picked up his staff-best sixth win of the season with his third complete game shutout, striking out a career-high 12 in his seven innings of work. Costa's 12 strikeouts were the most by a Golden Ram pitcher since
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) fanned 14 against Mercy in March 2025. Costa was the lone Golden Ram starter to turn in a complete-game this weekend as the bullpen earned the other two victories with
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) earning the game-three victory.
Evan Wineburg (Norristown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) earned the win in game four as he entered with two outs in a disastrous seventh inning and got an important final out to keep the deficit right where it was. Lazer turned in the second-longest outing from a Golden Ram starter this weekend as he battled into the sixth inning, finishing with a final line of five runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and a strikeout in 5.1 innings of work as he exited after allowing a bases-clearing double in the top of the sixth on Saturday afternoon.
Kyle Kearns (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) took the ball in game four for West Chester and pitched well through 4.2 innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, while striking out four as the Golden Rams held a lead when he exited with an out to get in the fifth.
Flock Talk
Offensively,
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) continues to lead the team at the plate, batting .371 (33-for-89) with nine doubles, four home runs, and three triples with 27 runs scored and 27 RBI. Strawhecker is next on the list, batting .350 with a team-best 29 runs scored, eight doubles, four home runs, and a pair of triples for 14 of his 28 (28-for-80) hits on the season. Strawhecker has also driven in 20 runs, which is tied with
Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) for third on the team, while Smith is second on the team in RBI with 21, batting .342 (26-for-76) with seven doubles and a pair of home runs.
On the mound, Costa is 6-1 with a 1.41 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 44.2 innings of work, while opponents bat .211 against him. Lazer is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 28.0 innings of work, while
Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) is 1-1 with a 5.08 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work, including a complete game of his own.
Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) is 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 25.0 innings of work, while Kearns is 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 15.2 innings. Cugino,
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford), and
Ben Jones (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) are some of the top bullpen arms for West Chester at 2-0 and 3-0, respectively. Cugino has a 1.23 ERA and seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work, while Rozich has 20 strikeouts in 12.1 innings with a 2.19 ERA. Jones has 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings, including a team-best three saves with a 5.59 ERA.
Comeback Kids
West Chester has won four of its last five PSAC East games with a comeback in the sixth inning or later, including six runs in the sixth in game three against East Stroudsburg, three in the sixth in game three against Kutztown, and a pair of game four walk-offs against East Stroudsburg and Kutztown to complete doubleheader sweeps and earn series victories.
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) played the hero against East Stroudsburg last weekend with a walk-off walk in the series finale, while
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) walked it off for West Chester in the seventh with a sac fly in game four against Kutztown on Saturday evening. Rust and Gozdan both drove in the eventual winning runs in the sixth-inning comebacks the last two weekends, with Gozdan driving a grand slam to left against ESU, while Rust plated the Golden Rams' seventh run with a sac bunt in the sixth inning on Saturday afternoon.
Want to go to the Bank?
The winner of Monday's game will advance to the Bill Giles Championship game at Citizens Bank Park on April 21 against Jefferson, who defeated Wilmington on Saturday int eh other semifinal beginning at 1 p.m. West Chester has hoisted the Bill Giles Invitational crown each of the last four seasons and are looking to match an Invitational-best five year winning streak, which began in 2008 and lasted through 2012. Chestnut Hill remains in search of its first Bill Giles Invitational Crown, while Jefferson looks for its fourth and first since 2013.
Long Live the Streak
With its series victory on Saturday afternoon via the doubleheader sweep of Kutztown, West Chester has now won each of its last four PSAC East series, dating back to a 3-1 series win over Mansfield to conclude the 2025 regular season. West Chester has lost only one series in the last two years, dropping the series 1-3 to Millersville last April, with the lone victory a 4-3 win in eight innings in the third game of the four-game set with the Marauders.
Rank and File
West Chester held steady at 22
nd in the latest Division II Baseball (diviibaseball.com) rankings, while climbing to 20
th in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll and ninth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) rankings this week after taking three of four from ESU over the weekend.
First of its Kind
Monday's game is West Chester's first home midweek of the season, with the Golden Rams' lone other midweek foe being Division I Saint Joseph's back on March 11, a game West Chester won 14-10 over the A10-leading Hawks.
Series History
Since 2011, West Chester is 9-1 against Chestnut Hill, with the lone loss during that time coming by a 9-0 final on the road in April 2022. West Chester did not face Chestnut Hill last year but enters play on a three-game winning streak, following a 2-0 home win in April 2023, then a doubleheader sweep of the Griffins in March 2024, 7-4 and 8-5.
Scouting Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill enters play on Monday after a three-game series sweep of Felician, including a 30-7 win at Hostelley Field last Thursday. The three-game sweep of the Golden Falcons improved Chestnut Hill to 14-12 overall and 11-7 in conference play with wins in seven of eight games.
Offensively, Angus Moore enters play on Monday batting a team-best .409 (18-for-44) with four doubles and 17 runs, along with 10 RBI. Aiden Myers is batting .407 (33-for-81) with six doubles and a pair of home runs, scoring 21 runs and driving in 19 more. Wyatt Spinks is third on the team batting .392 (29-for-74) with 22 runs and 23 RBI with six doubles, four home runs, and three triples. Michael Pascoe is tied with Jackson Shollenberger for the team lead in home runs with six each, batting .337 (30-for-89) and .303 (23-for-76), respectively.
On the mound, Michael Pascoe is 2-2 with a 7.94 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 28.1 innings of work, while Noah Tincher is 2-1 with a 9.00 ERA in six appearances with five starts. Tincher has fanned 17 batters in 23.0 innings of work, although opponents are batting .340 against him. Out of the bullpen, George Conway is 2-0 with two saves and a 7.52 ERA in 15 appearances, while Rich Bonino has a team-best three saves and is 3-1 with a 4.68 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 25.0 innings of work.
Up Next
West Chester will jump back into PSAC East play this weekend with a four-game series against Shippensburg, beginning with two games in West Chester on Friday afternoon.
