West Chester beat East Stroudsburg twice on Sunday to punch a ticket to the NCAA Division II Championships in Cary, N.C., next week.
The back-to-back victories marked the second consecutive weekend where the Rams faced elimination and had to win a pair of contests to keep their season alive.
"The mental fortitude of this club is incredible," West Chester head coach Mike LaRosa said. "It's the second weekend in a row that we had to win two games in one day, and they understood how to break the game down into sections and take it inning-by-inning."
This appearance marks West Chester's fifth in the Division II Championships over the last 17 years. The program last won a national title in 2017.
The eight-team double-elimination tournament opens on Saturday, June 4. The Rams play their first game of the tourney on Sunday, June 5, as the No. 8 seed with a contest against No. 1 North Greenville.
West Chester is led on the mound by graduate student left-hander Braeden Fausnaught. The Danville, PA native has 121 strikeouts over 95 1/3 innings while posting a 3.30 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Sophomore righty Joe Sperone slots behind Fausnaught in the rotation. The Broomall native and Cardinal O'Hara product is carrying a 3.53 ERA over 15 appearances with a 1.18 WHIP.
Senior Mike Ferrara is one of several power bats atop the West Chester lineup. The Archbishop Wood graduate is hitting .365 with nine homers and 64 RBIs. Graduate student Zack Wright leads the club with 39 stolen bases, while Luke Cantwell has 12 homers and 52 RBIs.
LaRosa, a West Chester graduate, was appointed head coach before the 2021 season. He was a four-year starter at second base for the Rams from 2002-05, graduating with a .362 career batting average. He also led the Rams to three NCAA Tournament appearances.