WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University baseball team (43-8) opened its 2024 NCAA Tournament campaign as the top seed in the Atlantic Regional for the second time in the last three years vs the University of Charleston (W.V.) (44-9) on a damp Thursday afternoon at Serpico Stadium. West Chester jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Charleston stormed back to post a 7-3 victory over the Golden Rams, thanks in part to a three-run fourth inning, which allowed the Golden Eagles to take their first lead of the game and never trail again.
"Certainly, tip your cap to Charleston," opened head coach Mike LaRosa. "I thought they played tremendously in this game, especially coming off a tough loss against IUP just under an hour earlier. I honestly thought we played well, too, but it was just one of those days for us. We did a lot of things well but didn't get that big hit we were looking for, which we were able to get so often all season."
Evan Profy (Croydon, Pa./Harry S. Truman) opened the scoring in the home first by scoring on a balk. West Chester doubled its lead moments later when Sean Szestowicki (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway) plated a run with a deep sacrifice fly to center, which extended the lead to 2-0 heading into the second.
"Getting out to that early lead felt really good, and I thought we had Dzierwa (Charleston starter Austin Dzierwa) on the ropes, but to his credit, he settled in well and did a nice job for them through those early innings. The Charleston bullpen was excellent in this game as well; both relievers did a really good job against us, too."
Julian Costa (Mantua, N.J./Clearview) (8-3) kept Charleston off the board through the second and third innings, working around early runners to maintain a two-run advantage heading into the fourth.
In the top of the fourth, Costa again found himself in early trouble after a leadoff triple to begin the frame. Charleston pushed across its first run of the game on a well-placed bunt before Costa got a significant first out via a strikeout. Charleston got runners on first and second after the second error of the inning by the Golden Ram defense and then used back-to-back RBI singles to take a 3-2 lead that the Golden Eagles would never relinquish.
Charleston added another run via an RBI groundout in the fifth, which West Chester countered with an RBI single of its own in the home fifth off the bat of John DeMucci (), keeping the deficit at two (5-3) heading into the sixth.
In the sixth, Charleston tacked on two more runs, thanks in part to an RBI single from Carter Rust, as the fourth-seeded Golden Eagles suddenly held a comfortable 6-3 lead entering the late innings.
West Chester attempted to mount a comeback throughout the late innings, but the Golden Eagle pitching was tremendous against the potent Golden Ram offense. The Golden Eagles held West Chester to just five hits while striking out five Golden Rams to keep West Chester at arm's length throughout the late innings. Today's effort marks the first time since April 26 that an opposing pitching staff has managed to keep West Chester under six hits (4/26 at ESU), and it is just the fifth time it has happened this season. It does bear noting that West Chester has never been held under six hits in back-to-back games and has frequently seen its offense roar back to life quickly in the following game on the rare occasions this has happened.
Charleston added an insurance run in the ninth, stretching its lead to 7-3 thanks to an RBI single up the middle by Brayden McAllister for one of his two hits on the afternoon.
Costa suffered the loss on the mound, finding himself on the losing end of the scoresheet for the first time since March 15 after allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five. Dylan Howanitz (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) worked an inning in relief and allowed one unearned run after entering with a runner on in the top of the fifth. Drew Simpson (Hockessin, Del./Delaware Military Academy) finished the game on the mound for West Chester, entering with one out in the sixth and pitching a big 3.2 innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking a pair and striking out five to help keep the Golden Ram pitching fresh heading into a crucial game vs IUP on Friday at 1 p.m.
Austin Dzierwa started for Charleston and worked the first four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out three in a no-decision. Cody Godbold entered in relief and pitched a scoreless fifth to earn the victory before Owen MacNeil entered in the sixth and picked up his first save of the year after working four stellar innings, yielding just two hits and a walk while striking out a pair to keep the Golden Ram offense in check throughout much of the afternoon.
Carter Rust had a big day at the plate for Charleston, going 3-for-5 at the dish with a run and an RBI, while Hector Carreon picked up a pair of RBI and scored a run in the victory. Casey Finck was the lone other Golden Eagle to record a multi-hit game in the win on Thursday, going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs and an RBI to help guide the Mountain East Champions to an upset victory over West Chester in the Golden Ram's first NCAA Tournament game of the year.
Offensively for West Chester, Profy scored a pair of runs and went 2-for-4 at the plate while also working a walk as the senior centerfielder was one of just four Golden Rams to record a hit in the setback. DeMucci contributed an RBI single in the fifth for his lone hit of the day, while Szestowicki finished 0-for-2 at the plate but did manage to work a walk and drive in an early run via a sac fly in the first inning.
Tomorrow's elimination game vs. Indiana (Pa.) will be familiar territory for West Chester. The Golden Rams found themselves with their backs squarely against the wall for much of the magical NCAA Tournament run in 2022. West Chester went 6-1 in elimination games during that season, winning two in the opening round of regionals, two in Super Regionals, and two in the National Finals in Cary, North Carolina.
When asked about finding themselves in an NCAA Tournament elimination game again, LaRosa said, "Yeah, I still feel good about tomorrow. I think today was a game between two outstanding teams, and someone has to lose, so you move on. As for tomorrow, the big message will be to focus on the controllables and compete every pitch. It can be easy to get in your head about being a loss away from the season-ending, so we just need to relax, be confident, and play our game like we have all season, and I think we'll be just fine."
Up Next:
West Chester will return to action tomorrow vs. IUP in an elimination game vs. the Crimson Hawks beginning at 1 p.m. IUP is the lone unbeaten team in the pod and will play Saturday regardless of the result. West Chester will need a win tomorrow to advance to what would become a winner-take-all final game on Saturday afternoon, which would pit the winner of IUP/Charleston against the Golden Rams on Saturday.
