WEST CHESTER, Pa. — As the ESU baseball team looks to become the first repeat Atlantic Region champion in seven seasons, the Warriors’ road back to Cary, N.C., begins in West Chester, with the Golden Rams and the Bloomsburg Huskies eyeing a spot in the Super Regional. 

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG

• The Warriors finished the regular season with a 35-13 record, tying for first place in the PSAC East with West Chester, as they went 20-7 in-conference.
• ESU and West Chester were both knocked out of the PSAC Tournament by Millersville, the second seed in the region. Both teams fell in one-run games to the Marauders. 
• This is the fifth-straight year the Warriors have made the NCAA Tournament, coming off their first Atlantic Region title last year. Seven of ESU’s eight NCAA Tournament appearances have happened since HC John Kochmansky took over in the dugout in 2008.
• The Warriors’ pitching staff limited Gannon’s and Millersville’s lineups in the tournament to just five runs, posting a 2.36 team ERA between the quarterfinal and semifinal games. ESU’s three All-PSAC East selections, Ryan Dewees, Ethan Woods, and Cole Dymek, all proved why they received the end-of-season honors they did, pitching the majority of the innings.
• Dewees heads into the NCAA Tournament as the PSAC leader in strikeouts, recording 82. He’s 24th nationally with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and will likely get the nod in ESU’s first game against Bloomsburg. He went 5.0 IP earlier in the year against the Huskies, striking out eight while allowing three earned runs, though Bloomsburg added three unearned runs to its total in the 8-6 ESU victory. Dewees’ lone complete game of the season came against West Chester, where he struck out 10 and carried a shutout into the seventh inning.
• Woods has hit his stride down the stretch, earning PSAC East Pitcher of the Week honors in two of the last three weeks of the regular season, All-PSAC East Second Team honors, and then throwing 5.0 IP of one-run pitching in the semifinals against Millersville. He hasn’t walked a batter in 12 innings dating back to his start at Shepherd, and hasn’t given up a base on balls in 3 of his last 4 starts. Woods guided the Warriors to their only win over West Chester in the regular season, going five full innings with one strikeout per inning while giving up two earned runs.
• Cole Dymek was one of only two bullpen arms ESU taxed in the conference tournament, coming off the best outing of his career in the quarterfinal game. The All-PSAC East second team threw 5.0 IP to shut out the Golden Knights the rest of the way, striking out five batters too. His five saves rank fifth in the conference, as his 1.33 ERA leads the team among pitchers with over 20.0 IP.
• Arms like Evan Hughes as a starter, and relievers Caden Leonard, Johansel Brito, and Cade Davis are fresh for ESU entering the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, bullpen pitchers like Kyle Phillips and Evan Kovalcik may get opportunities after performing well in the late-season series against Shepherd and Kutztown, while Peyton Brannock can open a game or enter as a long reliever.
• ESU’s M.O. at the plate has been getting on base. Their team OBP of .437 is second-best in the conference and 26th in Division II, hitting a hair above .300 as a team while drawing the most bases on balls in the PSAC, 290. Bolstering that are six batters with OBPs above .450: Troy Davis, Parker Frey, Cole Serfass, Zander Condeelis, Connor Reilly, and Walker Zampella.
• Davis is the team’s leader in OPS, 1.032, SLG%, .535, and OBP, .497. The All-PSAC East Second Team selection ranked fourth in the conference in OBP and stolen bases as well, going 27-32 on attempts.
• Zampella was ESU’s fifth All-PSAC East selection, making the First Team at second base. The redshirt senior is second on the team with 16 stolen bases and tied for the team lead with four home runs, slugging .522. He and Frey are ESU’s two players to start in every game this season. 
• Frey is one of ESU’s most-disciplined hitters, leading the team in doubles while only striking out every 11 at-bats. His two-way play has been crucial, batting .349 while recording 344 putouts and 12 assists without committing an error. He’s the only position player in the PSAC with over 150 putouts to have a perfect fielding percentage.
• The most dangerous part of ESU’s lineup is its two through five hitters, going Davis, Serfass, Zampella, and Frey. Serfass has done his job as the three-hitter, posting a .365 batting average and consistently driving in runs. He has one or more hits in nine of his last 10 games played with an at-bat, driving in at least one RBI in all the games he has a hit in during that stretch.
• Rounding out the Warriors’ lineup are bats like Connor Reilly and Easton Albert, who have shown up in big games over the last two seasons. Reilly had a 5-5 game in last year’s postseason and leads the conference in walks this year, while Albert has delivered two walk-off base hits this season against Shippensburg and Gannon. Braydon Hubbard and Zander Condeelis bookend the lineup, while Ryan Manning may get the nod at DH after going 2-6 with a home run and a double in the conference tournament.

SCOUTING WEST CHESTER

• The Golden Rams finished the regular season with an identical conference record as the Warriors, though owning a 3-1 tiebreaker in the season series gave them the top seed in the division. West Chester has held the top ranking in the Atlantic Region since the first numerical list released on April 29, remaining in the spot after falling in the PSAC Championship to Millersville. 
• West Chester is in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in 10 seasons, winning the Atlantic Region twice, including a national championship in 2017. 
• The Golden Rams’ bats carried them to quarterfinal and semifinal round wins in the conference tournament, outscoring Shepherd and Indiana (Pa.) 19-7 in those two games. However, the Marauders silenced them in the championship game as West Chester fell, 2-1.
• West Chester’s eight All-PSAC selections were the most in the East, with an even split of four on the First Team and four on the Second. Catcher Caleb Strawhecker, first baseman Austin Stalker, and outfielder Hunter Smith all made the First Team, while second baseman Patrick Gozdan, third baseman Drew Simpson, and outfielder Carter Rust were named to the Second Team. 
• The three First Team batters were West Chester’s leaders in batting average, OPS, and SLG%. Smith leads the team in batting average, .368, and OPS, 1.118, while Stalker slugged .654. All three of them have a SLG% over .600, making up one-sixth of the qualified hitters in the PSAC to do so.  During their series against ESU, the trio combined to bat 10-33 while only driving in three RBI.
• The three Second Team selections are immediately following the first three in batting average, OPS, and slugging, with Rust hitting .336 with an OBP of .527, while Simpson is slugging .523. Simpson and Gozdan had the best batting performances for West Chester against ESU, as Simpson went 6-11 with two RBI and three runs, while Gozdan was 4-9 with a go-ahead grand slam late in the third game.
• West Chester’s 4.00 team ERA is bolstered by its top two starters, Julian Costa and Kyle Lazer. Costa, the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year, threw a complete-game shutout against the Warriors in their first meeting. He threw his second career no-hitter against Frostburg State this season, and became the Division II active career wins leader with his 32nd victory in the quarterfinal win over Shepherd. His 2.66 ERA is tops in the conference and 23rd in Division II.
• Lazer, a Second Team honoree, is also top-10 in the PSAC in ERA, finishing the year with a 3.35 mark. He kept ESU off the scoreboard in a 5.0 IP outing that included seven strikeouts and allowed four baserunners. He’s one of three qualified pitchers in the PSAC to not allow a home run all season, the only one from the PSAC East.
• ESU’s win in the series came against Luke Raho in the second game at Creekview Park, where they chased him in 3.1 IP. He has the second-most innings pitched on the team, posting a 4.61 ERA.
• West Chester’s bullpen is headlined by Landen Rozich and Ben Jones, each of whom has three saves. Rozich has a 1.93 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 18.2 IP, only giving up four earned runs. Jones has made five more appearances, though he’s thrown 2.2 IP less, and comes in with a 4.50 ERA.
• Kyle Rogers and Kyle Kearns will likely eat up the bulk of relief pitching innings for West Chester, as they’ve both seen time out of the bullpen and as a starter. Rogers has made four starts in 17 appearances, while Kearns has pitched 15 fewer innings in eight starts across 10 appearances. They both have ERAs of just over 4.00, while Kearns has worked a strong .212 batting average against.

SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG

• Despite not making the PSAC Tournament, the Huskies were consistently ranked fifth in the Atlantic Region since the first numerical rankings came out. They split their 28 conference games evenly while going 27-19 overall.
• Bloomsburg is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, its fourth since 2018. The Huskies earned three straight Atlantic Region bids from 2018 to 2021, but haven’t been back to the postseason since then.
• The Huskies are led by Grant Russo, the PSAC East Athlete of the Year, and Aiden Murphy, Bloomsburg’s only pitcher to be named to an All-PSAC East team. Jace Jarmon was the Huskies’ third all-conference selection, making the second team at shortstop.
• Russo did it all for the Huskies, playing centerfield and leading off. He became Bloomsburg’s first PSAC East Player of the Year in almost 30 years, leading the conference with a .551 OBP while pacing the division with a .429 batting average and 36 stolen bases. Russo only struck out seven times all year and went 9-16 in four games against ESU, hitting six doubles, driving in two RBI, and scoring four times.
• Jarmon, a true freshman, hit .299 in his first collegiate season, recording 38 hits with 11 going for extra bases. He had a quiet weekend versus the Warriors earlier in the year, going 2-13 on two singles for two runs in the four-game series.
• Dylan Hirsh has been Bloomsburg’s second-best hitter this season behind Russo, posting the fifth-best OBP in the conference of .496. Batting .357, only eight of his 35 hits have gone for extra bases, as he’s slugging only .459.
• Matt Freda is another contact hitter who’s posted a solid average for Bloomsburg to make up for the lack of pop, hitting .326 with a .341 SLG%. The junior infielder had a strong series facing ESU, including a 4-5 day at Creekview Park with three RBI on four singles.
• Russo, Hirsh, Freda, and Drew Balestrini are Bloomsburg’s four batters with an OBP above .400, with Balestrini’s .433 mark rounding out the group. Batting .308 with an OPS of .909, his game three performance of 3-5 with a home run helped lead the Huskies to their lone win over the Warriors this year.
• Aiden Murphy made the All-PSAC East First Team off the back of a lights-out start to the season. He started the season not allowing a run over 20.0 IP in his first four appearances, as his season can be broken down into thirds. From lights out in his first four games, Murphy then put up a 2.53 ERA in his next five starts. However, in the final two starts of the season, he was tagged for 12 earned runs in 7.1  IP, going for an 11.40 ERA against West Chester and Mansfield.
• Brandon Wozniak is the team’s leader in ERA, posting a sub-three 2.98 ERA. He had an up-and-down end to the regular season, allowing four earned runs to ESU in three innings, then throwing two scoreless outings against Millersville and Kutztown, the latter of which was a complete game. In his last two starts, however, he gave up eight runs in five innings.
• Andrew Armstrong is Bloomsburg’s third starter, coming in with a 3.93 ERA. He’s one strikeout shy of Murphy’s team-leading 56, while he and Wozniak are neck-and-neck with a .272 batting average against. Murphy leads the team in that category, limiting batters to .225.
• Bloomsburg’s top two options out of the bullpen are Brian Walsh and Pete Modrovsky, the only two relievers with double-digit innings pitched and an ERA below 3.00. Walsh has made 10 appearances for 17.1 IP, posting a 1.04 ERA with 16 strikeouts, while Modrovsky has gone 20.1 IP in 12 appearances and held batters to a .236 batting average. The Warriors got through on each of them, scoring a run in Modrovsky’s lone appearance in the series while getting an unearned run across against Walsh in his first appearance of two.
• Bloomsburg only has two saves on the year, with Walsh getting one and Bryce Danish securing the other. He has a 5.91 ERA with a .326 batting average against in 21.1 IP.

SERIES' HISTORIES

• The Warriors and Golden Rams are no strangers to playing each other this late in the season, as ESU eliminated West Chester from the regional tournament last year. The teams have split four games since 2022, as the Golden Rams knocked the Warriors out four seasons ago. 
• West Chester took this year’s series three games to one, though runs were only 18-16 in favor of the Golden Rams. The Warriors were tied or leading in the sixth inning in all three of their losses.
• This will be the first time that ESU and Bloomsburg have ever met in the postseason, including the PSAC Tournament. 
• ESU has won 11 of its last 12 meetings against Bloomsburg, sweeping the series in 2024 and 2025, then winning three of four this year. All three of ESU’s wins were by two runs, while Bloomsburg’s victory came in an offensive outburst in a 12-3 Huskies win.