Image Credits: Samantha Yothers
After four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and another 30-win season, the West Chester University baseball team is entering the 2026 season ranked among the top programs in the Atlantic Region.
The Golden Rams finished the 2025 season with a 35–17 record overall and 17–11 in their conference, earning a third-place finish in the PSAC East and a No. 2 in regional rankings. West Chester’s season came to an end on May 17 when the second-seeded WCU fell 6–1 to third-seeded East Stroudsburg. Prior to the elimination game, West Chester lost the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Fairmont State.
West Chester also lost in the PSAC Tournament opener to California (Pa.) on May 7.
Despite the early postseason exits, the 2025 season marked West Chester’s fourth consecutive season with at least 30 wins. It also secured the program’s fourth straight NCAA appearance, continuing a stretch of sustained success under head coach Mike LaRosa. LaRosa enters his sixth season at WCU in 2026 with a career record of 166–72 overall and 93–45 in conference play.
West Chester’s 2026 roster features a combination of both returning starters and new players, as the program looks to replace several key contributing players from last season.
Middle infielder Sean Szestowicki graduated following the end of last season after earning Second Team All-Region honors. He led the team with a .337 batting average, 61 hits and 18 stolen bases, while also playing a key role defensively with 24 double plays and a .963 fielding percentage. Infielder Avery Spencer also graduated after finishing the 2025 season with a .329 batting average and earning Collegiate Sports Communicators Academic All-District recognition.
On the mound, right-hander Kyle Lazer is back in the rotation after finishing 2025 with an 8–3 record, four complete games and a 3.17 ERA. Lazer struck out a team-high of 75 batters in 71 innings.
Offensively, the Golden Rams bring back two of their most productive batters in senior Austin Stalker and sophomore Caleb Strawhecker. Stalker averaged .327 with seven home runs, while Strawhecker batted .325 with five home runs in his first collegiate season. Strawhecker also earned PSAC East Rookie of the Year honors after driving in 31 runs while scoring 30 times.
On the pitching staff, redshirt senior Julian Costa returns as one of the conference’s top arms last spring. Costa posted an 8–3 record with a 4.60 ERA and three complete games, including a historic no-hitter early in the season in Cary, North Carolina. That performance made him the first Golden Ram since Nicholas Frank in 1947 to throw a no-hitter and earned him PSAC, NCBWA Atlantic Region and NCBWA Division II Pitcher of the Week honors.
Left-hander Ryan DeHaven is also back after making 13 appearances with nine starts last season. DeHaven finished 3–2 with a 5.15 ERA and delivered multiple extended outings, including a complete-game win over Bloomsburg on April 19. He earned CSC Academic All-District recognition and remains part of West Chester’s projected rotation depth.
External expectations remain steady entering the spring. West Chester was picked fourth in the Atlantic Region in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason poll released Jan. 26. The Golden Rams also appeared in the American Baseball Coaches Association preseason poll, tying for 30th in the opening rankings released Jan. 27. In the PSAC preseason coaches poll released Jan. 29, West Chester was selected to finish third in the PSAC East.
West Chester opens the 2026 season on Feb. 21 with a doubleheader against Saint Anselm in Fairfax, Virginia.
Following the season, the PSAC Baseball Championship returns to Slippery Rock in May, beginning May 6. The tournament will feature a new 10-team, single-elimination format, replacing the previous eight-team structure that included opening-day elimination games followed by double elimination. Slippery Rock last hosted the championship in 2024, when West Chester won its sixth PSAC title.
As West Chester begins their 2026 season, the program’s recent consistency, returning talent and experienced leadership under LaRosa place the Golden Rams firmly among the PSAC’s top contenders once again.
Sophie Stair is a third year English major with minors in Journalism and Media & Culture. ss1029515@wcupa.edu