WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The No. 11/12 West Chester University baseball team (41-10) scored in seven of eight innings to overcome an early four-run deficit and coast to a 22-7 victory over fourth-seeded East Stroudsburg (37-15) at Serpico Stadium on day two of the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in West Chester.

"I'm very happy with our effort across the board today," started head coach Mike LaRosa. "I don't think anyone expected to score 22 on that staff with how talented they are from top to bottom, but we put together great at-bats all day and battled really well, especially after falling behind early the way we did. Going down four in the top of the first, that game could've gone the other direction very quickly, but our guys responded great, and once we started to get some separation, took all the pressure off, and we could just play baseball."

Tanner Donati (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) had the swing, which erased the four-run deficit and gave West Chester the lead for good in the home half of the first as he blasted a grand slam to right to give the top-seeded Golden Rams a 5-4 lead early, while also giving the team its first home run of the 2026 postseason.

Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) drove in five runs with a 3-for-5 day at the plate, while Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) also went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored.

Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood), who played the hero in a home doubleheader sweep of East Stroudsburg in late March, scored six runs in the victory on Friday with just one hit, a third-inning single, but was on throughout the day as he worked four walks, including a bases-loaded walk in the first to plate the first run of the game for West Chester.

East Stroudsburg jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning on two hits, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch to take an early four-run lead into the home half of the first.

West Chester did not trail for long as the Golden Rams loaded the bases with two outs after three consecutive walks, including the Gozdan walk, which scored the Golden Rams' first run of the game. Donati followed this up with the Golden Rams' first home run of the postseason as he turned on a 1-1 pitch and drove it down the right field line for a grand slam, which gave the Golden Rams a 5-4 lead.

With a one-run lead, Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) settled in quickly and worked a 1-2-3 second inning, which West Chester rewarded with a solo home run to right in the home second to give the Golden Rams a 6-4 lead.

ESU got a run back in the third via an RBI double, but West Chester responded with a six-run third inning, including a two-RBI single by Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), which helped the Golden Rams take a commanding 12-5 lead into the fourth.

Back-to-back RBI singles by West Chester in the fourth from Rust and Strawhecker stretched the lead to 14-5 before Michak picked up another RBI in the fifth with a sac fly to center before an RBI single by Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) gave West Chester a 16-5 lead.

East Stroudsburg held West Chester scoreless in the sixth for the first time all game and got two runs back in the seventh before West Chester answered with two more runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Rust and an RBI sac fly by Strawhecker before tacking on three more in the eighth, including a two-RBI single by Andrew Shank (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) to coast to a 22-7 victory.

After a rocky first inning, Lazer settled in nicely and allowed seven runs (six earned) on five hits and five walks, while striking out six in 6.2 innings of work on 121 pitches to pick up his seventh win of the season.

"The four-run first certainly wasn't how I wanted to start the game," started Lazer. "But I knew that if I could get that third out and get out of that first, my guys had my back and I would have a chance to reset and hopefully settle in more as the day went on, which is exactly what happened. I had to get a better feel for the zone early, but as the game went on, I went back to just competing, filling up the zone, and trusting our defense to make the plays behind me."

"I think his effort today goes to his competitiveness and experience," said LaRosa when asked about Lazer working into the seventh after a rocky first inning. "I think a lot of pitchers would've gotten rattled by a start like that, but he settled down really well and did a great job competing in the zone and letting his stuff and his defense work for him throughout the afternoon."

Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) finished the seventh before Kyle Rogers (Clifton, N.J./Clifton) and Patrick Taney (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) delivered scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to finish off the NCAA Tournament victory.

Ethan Woods (5-4) suffered his fourth loss of the year, allowing five runs on two hits and three walks as one of seven Warriors pitchers used in the setback.

Parker Frey had the best day of any ESU Warrior on Friday as the veteran first baseman was 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk, along with a team-best three RBI and a run scored.

With this victory, West Chester is outscoring its opponents 37-11 through the first two days of the NCAA Tournament and is 2-0 to open the Tournament for the first time since 2017. It bears noting that the last two times West Chester has started a Regional Tournament 2-0, the Golden Rams have advanced to and won the National Championship (2012 and 2017).

Asked about a message to the squad heading into tomorrow, in need of just one win to return to Super Regionals for the first time since 2022, LaRosa said, "I think it is as simple as changing nothing in our approach and not getting ahead of ourselves. We know how talented ESU is, and we know they are going to come out and battle with a great offense and a couple of great pitchers that haven't thrown yet this weekend. We don't need to change anything about our approach or try to do too much, but we can't let ourselves get ahead and feel like we have it won either, because it is going to be a battle all day tomorrow."

Up Next

West Chester will play East Stroudsburg again tomorrow for the Pod Championship and a spot in the Super Regionals next weekend. First pitch tomorrow is set for 11 a.m. with an if-necessary game to follow should East Stroudsburg stave off elimination in the first game of the day.