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Lancaster, Penn. – The Golden Eagle baseball team (43-10) returns to Lancaster, PA for the 2023 NCAA Tournament where they will take on West Chester University and tournament host Millersville in a three-team, double elimination tournament on May 18-21. Charleston faces West Chester (31-18) on Thursday, May 18 at 11 a.m.
 
Historically
After qualifying for their first NCAA tournament in 2018, Charleston has made it back to tournament in the last five seasons and are 11-8 in those appearances. In 2022, Charleston went 3-2 in the four-team format, winning games against Gannon, Millersville, and East Stroudsburg before falling by a final score of 3-6 in the winner takes all championship game on Sunday to East Stroudsburg.
 
Charleston This Season
Charleston, winners of 10 of their last 12, will look to punch their ticket to the Atlantic Super-Regional for the first time since 2019. Last weekend, the Golden Eagles won four straight games to win the Mountain East Conference tournament, their second straight tournament title and their fourth in the last five seasons. They hold a 43-10 overall record which marks a new Mountain East Conference record for wins in a season as well as a new school record.
 
Offensively, Charleston has been one of the most prolific hitting teams in the Mountain East Conference history. They are hitting .328 as a team with 500 runs scored, and 472 RBI, all of which are records in the MEC. Charleston has six hitters batting above .300 and  They currently lead NCAA Division II with 344 walks for the year, while also being top 15 in doubles and home runs. 
 
Leading the way is First Team All-MEC selection Kyle West. He leads the league in almost every offensive category. He was first in average (.402), slugging percentage (.913), home runs (22), on base percentage (.534), on base plus slugging (1.447), doubles (20), triples (4), and runs (72) through the end of the conference tournament.
 
West also ranks second in the nation for slugging percentage and is sixth for home runs.
 
Clay Hale, the veteran left-handed designated hitter, has been the hottest hitter in the on the team in the last few weeks. In addition to being a MEC Honorable Mention in the regular season, he was named MEC Tournament MVP and in the last six games he is hitting .480 with ten runs, sixteen RBI, six doubles, three home runs, six walks. He is currently second on the team and the league for on base percentage and is slugging .525 for the season.
 
Sophomore outfielder Giano Zuccaro was also named All-MEC first team and is hitting .477 with 21 extra base hits, and the team's third best on base percentage at .510.

Second baseman Drew Klaserner is leading the country in walks (54) and is fifth in walks per game (0.89). He was a vital part of the team's MEC tournament championship on Sunday. During the five games of tournament play he hit .500 with a team high nine walks.
 
Charleston's pitching staff is led by ace Cole Peschl. This season the sophomore right hander transitioned from a reliever into a starter midway through the year and has dominated since. In his last seven appearances he has made three starts and has allowed just one earned run. His best outing this year was a 12 strikeout, complete game shutout on the last weekend of the regular season against West Virginia State. He currently holds a 2.12 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 46.2 innings.
 
Almost equally impressive, but in a more limited role, has been the veteran right hander Austin Dzierwa. His best outing this season came in in the MEC tournament championship, where he tossed 4.1 scoreless innings without allowing a hit. He holds a phenomenal 1.08 and has fanned 26 through 16.2 innings.
 
West Chester
 
The Golden Rams booked their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years. They have also won two national championships in the last 15 years (2007 & 2017).
 
The Golden Ram pitching staff has performed well this season boasting a team ERA of 4.85. They are led by the PSAC Freshman of the Year Julian Costa who has fanned a team leading 65 opponents. He is also tied for the team lead in saves.
 
West Chester has five hitters hitting above .300. Joe Kaleck is leading the team with 15 doubles while John DeMucci leads in both batting average (.360) and extra base hits. Kaleck leads the baserunning machine that is the West Chester offense with a team high 34 stolen bases. As a team The Golden rams have 125 stolen bases which ranks third among all PSAC schools.