CARY, N.C.- For the first time since 2017, the West Chester University baseball team (47-10) will take the field in the Division II National Championship game against two-time defending National Champion Tampa (49-8) on Thursday night at 6 p.m. in the first game of the best-of-three Division II Baseball National Championship series. West Chester and Tampa are guaranteed to meet twice this week as the two sides will do battle on Thursday and Friday night in Cary, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. on both nights, with the if-necessary game to follow on Saturday at 3 p.m. should the series be tied at 1-1.
West Chester vs Tampa
Game Details: June 4 I 6 P.M.
Location: USA Baseball National Training Complex
Series: 1-4
Coverage Links: Live Stats I
Video I
Tickets
WCU Links: NEWS I
ROSTER I
SCHEDULE I
STATS
TAMPA Links: NEWS I
ROSTER I
SCHEDULE I
STATS
Fan Information
For fans making the trip to Cary, tickets should be purchased online through Etix (
click here). Single-day prices are $20 ($10 for seniors, children, and Cary/Wake County residents) or $50 for an all-session pass ($25 for seniors, children, and Cary/Wake County residents). Seniors are defined as those over 60, and children are defined as those aged 12 and under. A full Tournament central page is available
here. If you live near or in Cary, NC, or are planning to travel, join us at Woody's Sports Tavern & Grill, the best spot for pre- and post-game hangouts:
https://woodysportstavern.com/woodys-cary-2
For fans unable to make the trip to Cary, live stats will be available via the NCAA.com bracket (Thursday's live stat link is available
here), and live video will be available
here. Fans in West Chester can also visit Barnaby's in West Chester, located on High Street, for a watch party on Sunday night and throughout the tournament, as Barnaby's will become the NCAA Tournament headquarters for Golden Ram baseball throughout the Tournament run.
The Format
Thursday's game is the first of a best-of-three series between West Chester and Tampa as the Golden Rams and Spartans will play at 6 p.m. on Thursday and 6 p.m. on Friday, with the if-necessary game to follow on Saturday at 3 p.m.
How They Got Here
WCU 6 UT-Tyler 5
BOX SCORE RECAP
West Chester erased a late-game deficit with a four-run eighth, including a two-RBI single by
Patrick Gozdan (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood), a bases-loaded walk by
Andrew Kell (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills), and a sac fly by
Harry Middlebrooks (Bel Air, Md./Archbishop Curley) to erase a three-run deficit that appeared in the home half of the seventh and take a 6-5 lead late. West Chester got a pair of scoreless innings from
Nick Cugino (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) and
Landen Rozich (Oxford, Pa./Oxford), allowing just a walk and a hit in the eighth as the lone UT-Tyler baserunners down the stretch of the comeback victory.
Tampa 17 Catawba 2
BOX SCORE
Tampa punched its ticket to the National Championship Series in a much less dramatic fashion, erasing an early two-run deficit and cruising to a 17-2 drubbing of Catawba in the other National Semifinal. John Luke Glanton earned his 13
th win of the season on Wednesday as he allowed two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out a pair over his six innings of work. Brayden Woodburn and Jhoander Irigoyen were each 3-for-5 in the victory, and Woodburn drove in three, while scoring two more, while Irigoyen drove in one and scored two more in the 15-run victory.
NCAA Tournament History
The 2012 and 2017 Division II Baseball National Champion Golden Rams return to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and the 21st time in program history. West Chester shows a record of 57-40 (.587) in NCAA Tournament games after sweeping the opening weekend last weekend. West Chester is 8-0 to open the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, which was also the last time the Golden Rams won the Division II Baseball National Championship. Making its first National Finals appearance since 2022 and its sixth overall, West Chester is now 14-6 in the National Finals, including a 2-2 mark during the team's last visit to Cary with wins over Southern New Hampshire and Angelo State in between losses to North Greenville.
Find a Way
After scoring five runs on six hits in the first inning of each of the first two games in Cary and improving to 26-1 when scoring in the first and 28-12 when scoring first along with 38-1 when scoring six or more, West Chester found a different way to win on Wednesday as the Golden Rams still scored six runs, improving to 39-1 when scoring six or more but were limited to five hits and eight walks in a 6-5 comeback win over UT-Tyler. West Chester trailed heading into the second inning and trailed again heading into the eighth for the first time since the PSAC Championship game against Millersville, but staged yet another late-game comeback in the eighth with four runs on three hits and three walks to storm back and punch its ticket to the National Championship Series.
West Chester improved to 26-1 when scoring in the first inning and 28-2 when scoring first in the win over UT-Tyler on Sunday evening. West Cheser also improved to 38-1 when scoring six or more runs in a game and stretched its first-inning scoring advantage to a gaudy 81-24, including a 10-0 advantage in each of its first two games in Cary. West Chester has outscored its opponents 87-27 through six games and has only trailed for a half inning, with that lone half inning being the top of the first into the bottom of the first against East Stroudsburg on May 16, when the Golden Rams found themselves down 4-0 but responded quickly with a five-run home half of the first.
History Made
West Chester made program history on Wednesday as the Golden Rams 6-5 comeback victory over UT-Tyler not only punched the Golden Rams ticket to their third Division II National Championship game but also lifted West Chester to the team's 47
th win, which sets a new single-season win record, breaking the record of 46, which was held by the 2009 and 2012 squads.
Series History
West Chester is 1-4 against Tampa since March 1982, with the lone victory being a 7-6 triumph in March 2015 in Clearwater. Despite Tampa and West Chester combining for 12 Division II National Championships, including 10 by Tampa, as the Spartans have won each of the last two National Championships, Thursday's meeting will be the first-ever NCAA Tournament clash between the two powerhouse programs.
Scouting Tampa
The two-time defending National Champion Tampa Spartans (49-8) enter play on Thursday following a 17-2 bludgeoning of Catawba in the other National Semifinal on Wednesday night in Cary, which allowed the Spartans to return to the Division II Baseball National Championship game once again in 2026.
Offensively, Tampa has a .315 team batting average, led by the trio of Brayden Woodburn, Jhoander Irigoyen, and Jordan Evans, who are batting .390, .373, and .361, respectively. Irigoyen has 28 extra-base hits, including 17 doubles and 11 home runs, while Woodburn has 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and a pair of triples along with Evans, who has 16 doubles, eight home runs, and seven triples. Woodburn leads the team in runs scored with 71, while Irigoyen has plated a team-best 64 and has a .608 slugging percentage entering play.
John Luke Glanton was the winning pitcher for Tampa in the Semifinals on Wednesday, with six innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out a pair to improve to 13-2 on the season. B.J. Bailey and Robert Satin have also reached the 13-win mark already this season and are 13-0 and 13-2 with ERAs of 1.96 and 2.41, respectively. Satin has fanned 110 batters this season, while Bailey has 103 punchouts of his own. The duo of Satin and Bailey has yet to allow a run in Cary and yielded just seven combined hits and four combined walks in their first outings of the National Finals, as detailed by NCAA.com's Wayne Cavadi. Out of the bullpen, Luke Fikar is 3-0 with seven saves and a 1.70 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 37 innings of work.
With a Win
With a win on Thursday, West Chester will move one win closer to hoisting its third Division II Baseball National Championship and its first since 2017. A loss to Tampa will leave the Spartans a win away from their 11
th National Championship and third in as many seasons.
