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MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) earned his second Regional Pitcher of the Year honor of the campaign on Monday afternoon as the senior was named the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year after earning National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year honors last week. Costa is one of three Golden Rams honored as his catcher,
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) joined him on the First Team, while
Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central) was named Second Team All-Region after also being recognized along with Costa by the NCBWA last week.
Costa is in the midst of a season for the ages as the redshirt-senior lefty tied the Golden Rams single-season win record in the NCAA Tournament opener on Thursday after breaking the Golden Rams career wins and strikeout records earlier this season. Following Thursday's victory vs Bloomsburg, Costa is 11-2 on the year with a 2.76 ERA and a .252 batting average against with 69 strikeouts in 75.0 innings of work, including four complete games and three shutouts. Costa is 2-0 in the postseason already, including a win in the PSAC Quarterfinals over Shepherd and a victory over Bloomsburg in the NCAA Tournament at Serpico Stadium on Thursday. The NCBWA Division II National Pitcher of the Week earlier this season, Costa also threw his second career no-hitter earlier this spring against Frostburg State, as he became the first and only Golden Ram to record two no-hitters in his career after becoming the first to record a no-no since 1947 last Spring in an early-season trip to Cary, North Carolina.
Strawhecker enters the Super Regionals with the top batting average on the team at .360 with 14 doubles, two triples, and eight home runs, including a program-record tying three in three consecutive at-bats in a win over Division I Saint Joseph's in early March. This victory on Hawk Hill sparked something in the Hawks as the team is 30-9 since that game and recently wrapped up the Atlantic 10 Regular Season title. Strawhecker has scored a team-best 60 runs and driven in 43, while posting a team-best OPS of 1.119, including a .621 slugging percentage. An excellent defensive catcher as well, Strawhecker has a .981 fielding percentage and has thrown out 10 would-be base stealers, while being charged with just four passed balls.
Smith, who transferred to West Chester from Mansfield ahead of the 2025-26 season, is in the midst of an excellent 2026 campaign, entering play on Friday batting .348 on the year with 16 doubles, six home runs, and three triples, scoring 37 runs and driving in 52 more. The sophomore outfielder is 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts and has worked 26 walks. Smith, who was a First Team All-PSAC East selection last week, is also just one of four Golden Ram starters with an OPS north of 1.000 at 1.065, as he is joined in this exclusive list by Strawhecker (1.119),
Austin Stalker (1.075), and
Carter Rust.
West Chester went 3-0 last week to open the NCAA Tournament, outscoring teams 51-18 to return to the Super Regionals for the first time since 2022. West Chester will visit Millersville for the Super Regionals beginning on Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m.
