CARY, N.C.- Following a convincing 12-3 victory over UIndy to open the National Finals in Cary on Friday, the West Chester University baseball team (46-10) tied the program win record on Sunday night in Cary with an 8-3 victory over Texas-Tyler (49-13) to return to the National Semifinals once again in 2026. The Golden Rams' 46^th win of the season matches the program record, first set in 2009 and duplicated in 2012, when the Golden Rams won their first of two Division II National Championships.

"The boys competed their butts off tonight," opened head coach Mike LaRosa. "I'm really proud of this group for the way they battled against a really tough UT-Tyler group. On both sides, we had to fight and claw our way through some innings, but credit to our pitching staff for battling all night and making big pitches in big spots, and our offense for executing the game plan as well as they did."

West Chester picked up 16 hits in the win, including six in the five-run first inning as Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) led the team with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate with a pair of runs scored, along with a 3-for-5 effort from Harry Middlebrooks (Bel Air, Md./Archbishop Curley). Hunter Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Central), Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood), and Tanner Donati (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) all picked up two hits in the victory.  Middlebrooks also led the team in RBI with three in the 8-2 win.

Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) got the start and allowed two runs on four hits and six walks, while striking out three in 4.1 innings of work. Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) entered in relief and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, while striking out a pair, before Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford) pitched two scoreless innings to finish off the victory.

West Chester improved to 26-1 when scoring in the first, 28-2 when scoring first and 38-1 when scoring six or more runs in a game in the victory on Sunday night, which advances the Golden Rams into the Pod final, in need of just one win when the team returns to the field on Wednesday afternoon to punch its ticket through to the Championship series, which could begin as early as Thursday, pending results of the other pod, which includes second-seed and two-time defending National Champion, Tampa, who began its Title defense last night with a 13-2 drubbing of Bentley.

"We like getting ahead early," acknowledged Stalker when asked about the Golden Rams prolific first-inning offense throughout the 2026 season. "We always feel like we have a target on our back wherever we go, so we think it is really important to get out early and show what kind of team we are from the start," continued the senior first baseman.

"It's always big for us to give our starter a good cushion to work early and let them fill up the zone with minimal pressure since we can give them an early lead," added sophomore left fielder Hunter Smith.

With its five-run first inning, West Chester stretches its first-inning scoring margin to 76-24 and has only trailed for a half inning in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, with that lone inning being after a 4-0 top of the first in a 22-7 victory over East Stroudsburg in Regionals in West Chester on May 15. West Chester answered the Warriors' four-run inning with a five-run home half of the first to carry a 5-4 lead into the second.

Asked about what has helped the Golden Rams get off to a hot start throughout the season, 27 times to be exact, LaRosa said, "I think a lot of that credit has to go to hitting coach Evin Sullivan. He has done a great job preparing our guys all season long, and his game plan has been spot on. Beyond that, we have a really deep lineup one through nine, so we never give an opposing team an easy inning, and we do a great job of battling at the plate, so we can force mistakes by opposing pitchers just from wearing them down," continued LaRosa.

Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) started the game off with a single to left and moments later stole second, which allowed him to score on a single up the middle by Gozdan for the Golden Rams' third hit of the first inning. Gozdan's single also kept the bases loaded, which allowed Stalker, who had reached on a single up the middle of his own earlier in the inning to find his way home via a sac fly off the bat of Donati, that gave West Chester an early 2-0 lead.

Christian Michak  (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) singled home another run in the explosive first inning before Middlebrooks plated a pair with a two-RBI single back up the middle, which gave the Golden Rams, who were the visitors on the scoreboard on Sunday night, a 5-0 lead heading into the home half of the first.

Lazer allowed a leadoff walk to open the home first along with a pair of hits, but kept the Patriot offense off the scoreboard with a caught stealing by Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove),  his third of the National Finals, a strikeout, and a fly ball to left center to keep the 5-0 lead intact.

After scoring five first-inning runs on six hits in the first inning for the second game in a row, Stalker jumpstarted the offense in the second with a one-out double and later scored on an RBI single by Donati as he picked up his second RBI of the afternoon and gave West Chester a 6-0 lead.

An RBI fielder's choice from Michak in the top of the fourth gave West Chester a 7-0 lead before a hit-by-pitch and a double off the center field fence from Katson Mason for UT-Tyler's first extra-base hit of the afternoon, which gave the Patriots their first spark of the game since the first inning with runners on second and third and no outs. Lazer got a pair of choppers back to the mound and went the easy way for his first out of the inning before getting the second out at the plate, putting West Chester just a pitch away from keeping its shutout intact heading into the fifth.

 Bryce Jewell worked a two-out walk, which loaded the bases with two outs and extended the home half of the fourth. Connor Clark battled his way to a walk of his own, his second of the day, which scored the Patriots' first run of the afternoon and prompted a visit from pitching coach John Fleming. The first pitch from Lazer to Brock Bearden ran inside and caught Bearden, which allowed the Patriots to score their second run of the game and keep the bases loaded against Lazer, but the senior escaped the inning without any further damage to keep a 7-2 lead intact.

UT-Tyler threatened again in the fifth, which closed the book on Lazer, who worked 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and six walks, while striking out three before exiting for Simpson, who got the final two outs of the fifth, including a strikeout to end it, and kept a five-run lead intact heading into the sixth.
West Chester loaded the bases in the seventh, but Noah Lindt helped UT-Tyler escape the jam without any damage, getting a clutch strikeout of Hunter Smith after yielding a pair of walks to keep the deficit at five heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Drew Schmidt put a charge into one to start the seventh inning, but Smith ranged back and made a catch about up against the fence in left to keep the five-run lead intact. Simpson followed this outstanding defensive play up with a strikeout swinging of Kaston Mason before allowing a single, but escaped the inning with a pop-up to keep the 7-2 lead intact as he got his eighth out of the evening to finish his night.

Simpson earned the victory in relief as he worked 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk, while striking out a pair to improve to 2-0 on the year.

West Chester added a run to its lead in the top of the eighth with an RBI single by Middlebrooks, which gave the top-seed Golden Rams an 8-2 lead heading into the home half of the eighth.

Rozich got the last six outs of the game, including a pair of strikeouts, as the Golden Rams struck out seven Patriot batters in the victory. Asked about this performance, LaRosa said, "I've said all season that he may be a freshman, but he doesn't act or play like a freshman by any stretch. He's the kind of player that the bigger the spot he finds himself in, the better he gets."

Julio Garcia got the start for UT-Tyler and allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk in 1.2 innings of work as his streak of not working past the third inning was extended for another start. Garcia's last start of four innings or longer came on April 25, 2026, against St. Mary's when he delivered 6.1 strong innings late in the regular season.

Jacob Hadden entered in relief in the second and pitched the next 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits, while walking one and striking out a pair to keep the potent Golden Ram offense at bay.

Noah Lindt and Klayton Wingfield combined to finish the game on the mound as Lindt allowed one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out four in 1.2 innings of work, while Wingfield allowed a hit and struck out one in a scoreless ninth inning for UT-Tyler.

Up Next

West Chester will enjoy two days off before returning to action on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of a Central Missouri/UT-Tyler elimination game on Tuesday afternoon. West Chester needs just one win to punch its ticket to the National Championship Series, which could begin as early as Thursday, pending other results.