SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- For the second time in three seasons, the No. 14/16 West Chester University baseball team (39-9) will take the field at Jack Critchfield Park on Saturday afternoon to play for the PSAC Tournament crown against Millersville (35-16) as the two teams, who have won each of the last two PSAC Tournament crowns will square off beginning at 1 p.m.
"We played a great series with three one-run games against them last weekend, so we are both very familiar with each other, and both know just how good the other one is," acknowledged head coach
Mike LaRosa when asked about the Championship matchup. "I'm excited for another great, high-energy game against them tomorrow afternoon. I know both of our teams are going to be fired up from the start, and tomorrow is a day where you are playing for pride, so I think it'll be a really fun afternoon."
FAN INFORMATION
Tickets for tomorrow's Championship game are available for purchase via this
link. All sales will be online only, and no cash will be accepted. Prices are set at $12 for adults and $7 for students in grades K-12, with students from PSAC Member Institutions being admitted free of charge with a valid ID. A full Tournament central page is available
here.
For fans unable to make the trip,
live stats and
video are available here.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
WCU 6 IUP 2 Box Score Recap
After watching the Marauders stun the Warriors in the first semifinal of the afternoon, the West Chester University baseball team went to work against Indiana (Pa.) in the second semifinal and defeated the Crimson Hawks by a 6-2 final. West Chester got six strong innings from
Kyle Lazer (Havertown, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) as the senior struck out six and allowed just two unearned runs on three hits and two walks to improve to 6-1 on the season.
Austin Stalker (Wycombe, Pa./Council Rock North) gave West Chester an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first, and West Chester never looked back in the victory.
Carter Rust (Liberty Township, Ohio/Lakota West) drove in a pair of runs, while
Caleb Strawhecker (West Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and an RBI.
Millersville 3 ESU 2 Box Score Recap
Millersville earned its spot in the PSAC Championship game in the most dramatic fashion possible, as Jimmy Kirk blasted a two-run home run to left with two outs in the ninth after the game was extended after East Stroudsburg misplayed a seemingly routine fly ball to shallow right field just one batter earlier. Matt Shamany got the start for Millersville in Friday's first semifinal and allowed just two unearned runs in the first inning, scattering six hits and a walk while striking out two in five innings of work. Joe Morrissey entered in relief and finished the game on the mound, allowing just one hit and two walks, while striking out four in four scoreless innings in relief to earn his fifth win of the season. Ethan Woods got the start for East Stroudsburg and allowed one run on seven hits, while striking out three in five innings before Payton Brannock entered in relief and allowed two runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out three in 3.2 innings of relief.
ALONE AT THE TOP
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview), who won the Golden Rams' first Tournament game with five strong innings, became the NCAA Division II Active Career Wins leader as he picked up the 32
nd win of his career on Thursday afternoon against Shepherd.
LITTLE SUSPENSE
West Chester has won its first two PSAC Tournament games of the campaign by 19-7 margin, posting a 13-5 win over Shepherd on Thursday before defeating IUP by a 6-2 final on Friday evening.
PSAC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
It is probably only fitting that the two teams, who rank among the league leaders in PSAC Championships will do battle for the league title on Saturday afternoon at Slippery Rock. West Chester, the 2024 PSAC Tournament Champions, won its ninth PSAC Championship the last time the Championship was played at Slippery Rock, while Millersville, the defending PSAC Champions, hoisted the trophy at home a year ago for its first Conference crown since 2022. All told, West Chester and Millersville have combined for 16 PSAC Championships and are second and fourth in the league in Championships. Shippensburg, who has not won the PSAC crown since 2007, remains the team in the league with the most as the Raiders have been crowned Champions 12 times.
THE END OF SOMETHING NEW
Saturday's title game will be the end of a new format for the PSAC Tournament as the Tournament shifted to single elimination this season, meaning West Chester needed just three wins to hoist the PSAC Trophy, while Millersville needed four after starting the Championship with an 8-3 win over California on Wednesday in the first game of the Tournament.
SCOUTING MILLERSVILLE
Millersville enters the Championship game at 35-16 overall after picking up its third win of the week to improve to 6-1 in neutral site games. After its last regular season series of the year against West Chester, the Golden Rams improved to 100-60 against the Marauders, Millersville has outscored foes 27-9 in the PSAC Tournament, including a 16-4 victory over PSAC West Regular Season Champion Seton Hill in the Quarterfinals on Thursday.
Offensively, Matthew Williams continues to have the top batting average on the team at .341 with 22 extra-base hits, including 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and a triple. Kirk, who played the hero in the Semifinals, has 15 home runs on the season, including a pair in the PSAC Tournament, and eight in the last three weeks, as he is one of just three Marauders in team history to hit 15 or more home runs in a single season. Kirk enters play on Saturday batting .288 with a team-best 56 RBI and 42 runs. Sammy Laux is second on the team in batting average, batting .338 with 29 runs and 28 RBI.
On the mound, Millersville got 6.2 from Alex Kuehn to start the weekend, 5.1 from Eli Simonton in a win on Thursday, and five from Matt Shamany on Friday. Millersville will likely turn to Rece Ritchey on Championship Saturday as the fourth and final weekend starter yet to pitch this weekend. Ritchey is 4-1 with 59 strikeouts and a .237 batting average against with a 3.33 ERA in 51.1 innings of work over 12 starts. Against West Chester last week, Ritchey allowed five unearned runs on five hits, while striking out six in 3.2 innings of work in a 7-6 loss to the Golden Rams. Joe Morrissey, who earned his fifth win of the year earlier today with four scoreless innings in relief, also has a staff-best five saves on the year but took the loss for Millersville in that game, allowing two runs on a hit, while striking out one in 1.1 innings of work in relief.
WITH A WIN
West Chester will win its second PSAC Tournament title in three seasons and prevent Millersville from being the first team to win back-to-back conference titles since Bloomsburg in 2019 and 2021. The last team to win in true consecutive seasons without a year gap due to COVID-19 cancellation was Seton Hill when the Griffins went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. West Chester will also cement itself as the favorite to be the top seed in the NCAA Atlantic Regional when play begins next week, as the Golden Rams will earn the Automatic Qualifier from the PSAC.
WHEN DO WE FIND OUT?!
The NCAA Tournament Field of 56 with Regional round locations will be announced on the NCAA Division II Baseball selection show, which will air on NCAA.com on Sunday night at 10 p.m.
