SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.-  The No. 14/16 West Chester baseball team (39-9) punched its ticket back to the PSAC Championship game with a 6-2 victory over Indiana (Pa.) (IUP) (31-21) on Friday afternoon at Critchfield Park. After an hour rain delay to begin the game, West Chester jumped out to an early 1-0 lead and added four in the fifth and another in the seventh to coast to a four-run victory over the Crimson Hawks.

"Today was another good, complete victory for us," opened head coach Mike LaRosa. "IUP is always a really well-coached, competitive team, and I'm always impressed by them, but credit to our guys for putting together nice, competitive at-bats all day long, along with some great pitching from Lazer (Kyle Lazer) and Raho (Luke Raho)."

IUP threatened early with runners on first and second after a one-out single and a walk, but Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) worked out of the inning without any damage with a strikeout to keep the game scoreless early.

West Chester rewarded Lazer's scoreless start with a run in the first inning as Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) just missed a home run with a ringing double to left center, which scored Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), who had doubled with one out for the Golden Rams' first hit of the inning just two batters earlier. West Chester continued to threaten after this double with runners on second and third, but IUP worked its way out of the inning as well to keep the deficit at one.

West Chester started the fourth with a hit-by-pitch and a walk, which led to an early pitching change for IUP with no outs in the bottom of the fourth.
Cameron Copple got the start and was charged with all three of the Golden Rams first runs of the game on four hits and three walks, while striking out a pair in three innings of work. Jake Detwiler entered in relief and got one out but also allowed Copple's second and third runs to score on a good bunt by Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West), which allowed Christian Michak (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) to score under the tag at the plate before Strawhecker picked up an RBI of his own with a single to right center, which led to another IUP pitching change as Christian Wilkinson entered in relief to try and escape the jam with runners on second and third.

On the 2-1 pitch to Simpson, West Chester put Strawhecker in motion, and IUP tried to throw to third to catch Rust, who was dancing off the bag as Strawhecker swiped second. The throw to third was high, and Rust scored for the Golden Rams fourth run of the game. Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./DMA) stretched the lead a step further with an RBI single as the Golden Rams held a commanding 5-0 lead with one out in the fourth.

IUP got two runs back in the fifth on a two-out RBI single to center off the bat of Anthony Diodata, which cut the lead to 5-2. After a mound visit, Lazer escaped the inning on a ground ball to third and worked a speedy 1,2,3 inning with two strikeouts to finish his sixth inning of work.

Lazer earned the victory, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out to improve to 6-1 on the year.

Asked about Lazer's strong start, LaRosa said, "He did a great job again today, putting us in a really good position to win all day today and helping set us up for tomorrow since we only had to use two pitchers to win today. Today was one of his higher pitch counts of the season, but we felt like that was right where we want him heading into next weekend. He did a great job competing all day today, and I really felt like he got better and better as the game went on, especially with his breaking pitches."

Luke Raho (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) entered in relief for the seventh and got two quick outs via a strikeout and a fly ball to right before ending the inning with a strikeout.

With two outs in the seventh, Rust swung at the first pitch he saw and laced an RBI single into center to give the Golden Rams a 6-2 lead and force IUP to turn to its sixth pitcher of the game and second of the inning to escape the frame.

Raho pitched another 1,2,3 eighth with two more strikeouts to send the game to the home half of the eighth with West Chester holding a 6-2 lead.

After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Raho came back out for the ninth and finished off a nine-out save with his fifth strikeout of the afternoon to finish off the 6-2 victory and send the Golden Rams back to the PSAC Championship game on Saturday against Millersville for the first time since 2024.

"Raho did a great job out of the bullpen for us today," acknowledged LaRosa when asked about the nine-out save. "He was a great starter for us throughout the regular season, and he is a really good big moment pitcher, so I think he will be great coming out of the bullpen as the postseason goes on."

Cameron Copple took the loss, his fourth of the season, allowing three runs on four hits, while walking three and striking out two as one of seven Crimson Hawk pitchers used in the setback.

Up Next

West Chester will play for its second PSAC Tournament title in three seasons against Millersville on Saturday afternoon at Slippery Rock beginning at 1 p.m.