West Chester stayed perfect to open the season.
The Golden Rams improved to 3-0 on Friday afternoon with a 10-3 victory over Pace at the USA Baseball National Training Complex, using timely hitting and a strong start from Julian Costa to pull away late.
West Chester grabbed control in the third inning and steadily built from there, scoring two in the third, three in the fifth, one in the seventh and four more in the eighth to seal the win.
Pace threatened immediately in the first, loading the bases with one out. West Chester catcher Caleb Strawhecker helped cut down a runner at the plate, and Costa worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly ball to strand two.
The Golden Rams broke through in the third. Landen Rozich started the inning with a triple and later scored on a single by Carter Rust. Drew Simpson followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Patrick Gozdan and give West Chester a 2-0 lead.
Pace scratched across a run in the fourth after a pair of West Chester errors, but the Rams answered with three runs in the fifth. Austin Stalker drove in a run with a groundout, Hunter Smith added an RBI double, and another run scored on a balk to push the advantage to 5-1.
After Pace scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, Smith delivered again with his second double of the day to restore a four-run cushion at 6-2.
The Setters trimmed the deficit to 6-3 with an RBI triple in the eighth, but West Chester responded decisively in the bottom half. Rozich doubled home a run before Stalker cleared the bases with a two-out triple to right-center, stretching the lead to 10-3.
Costa (2-0) earned the win with six strong innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and one walk while striking out six. Nick Noga worked two innings in relief, allowing two runs, and Ryan DeHaven tossed a scoreless ninth to finish it off.
Rozich (2-for-4), Smith (2-for-4) and Gozdan (2-for-2) led the offense. Stalker drove in four runs, while Strawhecker reached base four times via walks and scored three runs.
West Chester returns to action Saturday for a doubleheader against Wilmington beginning at 10 a.m.
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