West Chester opens the NCAA Division II Tournament on Thursday at Serpico Stadium as the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Region. The Golden Rams will face the loser between Slippery Rock and Seton Hill.
West Chester's inclusion in the NCAA Division II Tournament marks the fifth appearance in the last six postseasons and the 17th time overall. The program won the Division II National Championship in 2012 and 2017.
The Golden Rams had six players named to the All-PSAC East team, including first baseman Mike Ferrara, outfielder Zack Wright, and relief pitcher Kyle Lazer. Second team members included shortstop Justin Horn, outfielder Luke Cantwell, and starting pitcher Braeden Fausnaught.
Ferrara leads the club with a .369 batting average with 58 RBIs and 19 doubles. Wright is a demon on the bases, swiping 39 bags while hitting .333 with 54 runs scored. Lazer posted three saves to go along with a 1.69 ERA. Horn hit .333 over the regular season with 18 stolen bases and 40 runs scored. Cantwell belted nine homers with 43 RBIs, while Fausnaught set a single-season record with 98 strikeouts over 75 1/3 innings.
About Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock will be making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2007. The Rock's 14 total NCAA Tournament appearances rank third among all PSAC teams trailing only Shippensburg (22) and West Chester (15) ... In the Atlantic Region, only Millersville (41), East Stroudsburg (37), Charleston (37), and Glenville State (35) had more total victories than Slippery Rock ... Slippery Rock holds a 22-15 all-time record against West Chester. However, the two teams have not met since SRU's 14-4 win over the Golden Rams in the 2018 PSAC Tournament.
About Seton Hill
The Griffins won the Atlantic Regional last season and made their second conseuctive trek to Cary, NC and the NCAA Division II Championships ... Seton Hill and Slippery Rock played a four game PSAC West set this season with the Rock winning all four games of the series ... Seton Hill and West Chester have not met this season ... Two members of the Griffin program were named to the D2CCA All Atlantic Region Team ... Senior reliever Nash Bryan was named to the team as a first team selection while junior third baseman Jack Oberdorf was named to the team as a second team selection.
