Charleston, W. Va – For the fifth consecutive season, Charleston Baseball has captured the Mountain East Conference South Division Title, and this year it was in dominant fashion. After winning both ends of a Saturday doubleheader against cross-town rival West Virginia State, the Golden Eagles improved to 38-8 overall and 26-4 in Mountain East Conference play.
 
Game One – Charleston 4, State 0
The Golden Eagles needed just one win in their final series of the season against the Yellow Jackets of West Virginia State to secure their fifth straight regular season title, and lock in top seed in the upcoming Mountain East Conference tournament.
 
A pair aces took the hill for the all-important first game of the series. State's Tyler Lafferty, who entered the game with a league best 1.36 ERA and a team high 50 strikeouts, was outdueled by Charleston's top arm Cole Peschl.
 
"You know, Peschl is the guy that we go to when the game hangs in the balance," commented head coach Robbie Britt after the game, "but if the game's never in the balance because he's starting, and he's 92-94 [mph], and breaking off really good sliders, then it doesn't really matter."
 
Peschl came into the contest with just two starts on the mound and was primarily used as a high leverage reliever for most of the season. He showed out in his final outing at Segra Field for the 2023 season, tossing a complete game shutout with 12 strikeouts, and just three hits. The Fairmont, WV native improved to a team best 8-1 on the season and the outing marked a career high for innings pitched and strikeouts.
 
He was given all the run support he would need in the bottom of the second inning. Charleston had runners at second and third with nobody out when Brayden McCallister attempted a safety squeeze to scratch across a run, but the bunt was a bit too firm and Carter Rust was cut down on the play at the plate. Clay Hale waved at a high fastball for strike three in the next at bat and State was looking like they might get out of the jam.
 
However, with runners on first and third and two away, left-handed slugger Drew Beckner cleared the bases with his fourth home run of the season to give Charleston a 3-0 lead.
 
The next inning Kyle West cashed in on 1-2 fastball that snuck its way over the left field fence for the fourth run of the game. The home run was his MEC leading 18^th of the season and gave the Golden Eagles more than enough cushion to walk away with a victory in game one.
 
Game Two – Charleston 4, State 2
 
Game two saw Dwayne Sumler take the Hill for the Golden Eagles and pitch effectively through his first four innings. He fanned seven and gave up just one run (unearned) while picking up his fourth win of the season.
 
Charleston got on the board in first after Andre Martinez knocked in Tyler Dellerman on an infield single to take a 1-0 lead. They plated three more in the fourth inning. Rust doubled home a run, Griffin Adkins hit a two-out, two-strike RBI single to right, and Dellerman made it 4-0 with an RBI single to left two batters later.
 
The Golden Eagles ran into some trouble in the fifth when two errors allowed a couple of Yellow Jackets to cross the plate and cut the lead to just 4-2. Tad Dean was charged with one run (unearned) and got out of a big-time jam in the inning to hold the lead at 4-2.
 
Cody Godbold earned his first save of the season as he closed it out in the seventh inning. State brought the go ahead run to the plate twice in the inning but Godbold kept them off the board as he struck out Will Glick to end the game.
 
Dellerman was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored in game two. Both Adkins and Hale had a hit and a run scored as well.
 
The Golden Eagles improved to 38-8 overall and 26-4 in conference play. Both mark regular season highs at the University of Charleston for wins and winning percentage.
 
They will close the regular season against West Virginia State on Saturday at 1 p.m. as State plays host for a doubleheader at Calvin L. Bailey Field.