West Chester - 2012 NCAA Division II National Champions
West Chester Story (with box score)
Joe Gunkel threw his second complete game shutout of the tournament to lead West Chester to a 9-0 win over Delta State in the Division II baseball national championship game on Saturday night. The national championship is the first in West Chester program history and the first baseball national title for a PSAC school. The previous best finish for a PSAC school had been a national runner-up finish by Mansfield in 1992.
West Chester is also the second northern-most school to ever win a baseball championship. Only Illinois State, which won the second-ever Division II national title in 1969 and is now a Divsion I program, has been located further north than West Chester, which is just the third school from a traditional northern climate to win a title, joining Illinois State and Southern Indiana, which won the title in 2010. The Golden Rams are also the first program from the Northeast and from the Division II Atlantic Region to win a baseball national title, the first from Pennsylvania, and the fifth straight first-time Division II national champion.
The baseball national title is also the second national championship for West Chester during the 2011-12 academic year. Back in November, the Golden Ram field hockey squad also captured the national title in just its first year in Division II. By capturing two national championships, West Chester becomes the first school in PSAC history to win two NCAA team national championships in the same academic year. Bloomsburg won two national titles in 1981-82 but both were in the AIAW for softball and field hockey.
Here is the game story, courtesy of West Chester Sports Information
Ninth-ranked West Chester University shut out second-ranked Delta State, 9-0, to claim its first NCAA Division II college baseball national championship Saturday night behind the arm of sophomore Joe Gunkel (Hershey, Pa./Hershey).
West Chester (46-10) completed its perfect run through the NCAA Tournament with a five-hit shutout from Gunkel (10-1). The 6-6 right-hander went 2-0 in the College World Series and did not allow a run in 18 innings of work while only yielding six combined hits. He was named the tournament’s most outstanding player for his efforts in the series opener against Chico State and Saturday night in the finals against Delta State (49-18).
The Golden Rams went 4-0 in the Atlantic Regional and duplicated that performance in Cary, N.C. at the College World Series, knocking off Chico State, Southern New Hampshire, Catawba and Delta State, respectively. They end the 2012 season with a 12-game winning streak and tied the school record for most wins in a single season (46).
West Chester becomes the first team from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) to win the national championship and just the third northern school to walk away with the title.
West Chester posted five runs in the bottom of the first inning to get on top of the Statesmen early and never looked back.Mike Raimo (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) led off with a walk, andJack Provine (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown) followed with a double down the left-field line.Joe Wendle (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) then walked to load the bases with nobody out. Chris Pula (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) singled in a run, andJustin Lamborn (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) drew a bases loaded walk to score the first two runs of the contest.Matt Baer (Shade Gap, Pa./Southern Huntingdon) then singled in a pair of runs to double the lead to 4-0.
Delta State then lifted starter Colton Mitchell, who did not retire a batter. After a strikeout,Josh Heyne (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock) singled in the fifth run of the game. The Golden Rams would tack on single tallies in the second and third and then add a pair of insurance runs in the fifth.
Heyne and Pula each finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Wendle went 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored.
Gunkel scattered five hits over nine innings in the complete-game shutout. He becomes the eighth pitcher in school history to record double digits in victories in a single season.
Joe Wendle, Josh Heyne, Jack Provine, Mike Raimo and Joe Gunkel were all named to the All-Tournament team from West Chester University.
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World Series Host Site Headquarters
West Chester Story
Josh Heyne hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a 1-1 tie and give West Chester a 2-1 win over Catawba on Thursday night to send the Golden Rams to the national championship game. West Chester, winners of 11 straight games, will become just the second team in PSAC history to play in the baseball national championship game. Mansfield was the national runner-up in 1992.
West Chester will take on the winner of Friday's game between Minnesota State-Mankato and Delta State. Saturday's game will be the final PSAC and NCAA Division II athletic event of the 2011-12 school year and it will also mark the first time in West Chester history that the Golden Rams will play a game in June.
Sophomore Fred Breidenbach tossed a complete-game six-hitter for the Golden Rams to pick up the win. He allowed one run, walked two and struck out six. Each team only had six hits apiece.
Catawba drew first blood with a fourth-inning run to go up 1-0. The Golden Rams evened the score on Joe Wendle's sacrifice fly in the sixth, which scored Mike Raimo, who had doubled and then been sacrificed to third by Jack Provine. Raimo went 2-for-4 and was the only Golden Ram with multiple hits in the game.
In the ninth, Justin Lamborn led off with a double. Matt Baer then attempted to bunt him over to third and ended up with a bunt single before Matt Kirchner was intentionally walked. Catawba starter Nick Lamoscolo, pitching on three days rest, was lifted for John Tuttle, who gave up the game-winning sac fly to Heyne.
Saturday's championship game will be played at 7:00 p.m. and can be viewed on NCAA.com.
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World Series Host Site Headquarters
West Chester Story
West Chester scored nine runs in the final two innings and 11 of its 13 runs in the final three frames to rally back from an early deficit and top Southern New Hampshire 13-7 to advance into the final of the first winners' bracket. The Golden Rams will now play an opponent to be determined on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. If the Golden Rams are victorious, they will advance to the national championship game. A West Chester loss on Thursday would force a rematch on Friday for a title game berth. The Rams will face one of four possible teams on Thursday - Indianapolis, St. Mary's, Catawba or Delta State - which will not be determined until Wednesday night.
Jack Provine (2-for-4, 3 RBI) hit a two-run homer in the eighth that broke a 5-5 tie and the Golden Rams would go on to score six more times to close out the win. Reid Pulford also went 2-for-4 with three RBI while PSAC Tournament MVP Josh Heyne went 3-for-3 with scored twice. Seven of the nine players in West Chester's starting lineup recorded a hit and six of nine recorded an RBI. After West Chester starter Jordan Lehman and reliever Matt McAllister combined to give up six earned run on 12 hits in the first seven innings, reliever Kyle Weary came in and slammed the door on Southern New Hampshire, allowing just one hit while striking out two in the final two frames while his offense was scoring the combined nine runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
West Chester had 16 hits and now has 24 hits in its two World Series games. This marks the furthest that West Chester has advanced in the World Series in this, its third all-time trip.
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World Series Host Site Headquarters
West Chester Story
Joe Gunkel took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and finished with a complete game one-hit shutout as his performance helped West Chester get past Chico State 4-0 in the opening game of the Division II College World Series on Saturday afternoon in Cary, N.C. The win moves the Golden Rams into the winners' bracket, where they will take on Southern New Hampshire on Monday evening at 5:00 p.m.
Mike Raimo went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and RBI out of the leadoff spot to lead West Chester's offense. No. 2 hitter Jack Provine went 2-for-2 with an RBI. West Chester scored one in the first and three in the second to take the early 4-0 lead and then turned it over to Gunkel from there. Gunkel's one-hitter marked the second one-hitter of the postseason for West Chester, as Jordan Lehman also threw a one-hitter in the NCAA regional.
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World Series Host Site Headquarters
West Chester Story (with photo gallery)
West Chester swept through the NCAA Atlantic Regional in dominating fashion, winning all four games without a loss to capture the regional title for the first time since 2009 and advance to the Division II College World Series. The Golden Rams will open up play at the World Series in Cary, N.C. against Chico State at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 26. This will be West Chester's third trip of the World Series in program history, with all having occurred since 2006.
The Golden Rams' regional was bookended by a pair of shutouts as Jordan Lehman tossed a complete game one-hitter in the first game - a win over Shepherd - while Dylan Porter threw a complete game four-hitter in the final game - a win over Kutztown. In between, the Rams also topped Mercyhurst and Seton Hill.
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NCAA Announcement
Host Kutztown's Regional Headquarters
Three PSAC teams have been selected to play in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. PSAC Tournament champion West Chester, along with PSAC Tournament runner-up Kutztown and PSAC West champion Mercyhurst make up half of the six-team Atlantic Regional, which will get underway on Thursday, May 17 and run through Sunday, May 20. Kutztown will host the regional at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park in West Lawn, Pa. The Golden Bears hosted the regional at the same location two years ago en route to winning the regional to advance to the Division II College World Series.
West Chester is the No. 2 seed in the region and the Golden Rams will open up the double-elimination regional against the No. 5 seed Shepherd. Host Kutztown is the No. 3 seed and the Golden Bears will take on No. 4 Mercyhurst. The Bears and Lakers played twice in the PSAC Tournament, splitting a pair of games.
The winner of the Atlantic Regional will earn a berth in the Division II College World Series, which will be held this year in Cary, N.C. from May 26-June 2.