Baseball to Face Two-Time Defending National Champion Tampa in National Championship Series
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 13th 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 47th 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 11th National Championship and third in as many seasons.