West Chester Wins National Title

The following is a press release from the Athletic Department.

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.
 
“When you see this spot on TV, there is that surreal feeling that hasn’t sunk in yet,” WCU first-year head coach Jad Prachniak said. “That’s how I feel right now. It’s going to take a while to digest all of this.
 
“I came into a situation where we had some talented baseball players, who were unbelievable kids that followed through on everything.”
 
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, and Jack 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, and Justin 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.
 
“It was good getting that five-spot,” Prachniak continued. “It changed the course of the game and limited some of the things that (Delta State) likes to do.”
 
“It takes a tremendous amount of pressure off,” Gunkel commented. “All year long we’ve talked about shut-down innings after our team scores.”
 
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.
 
“This year, we had a different mentality,” Wendle said. “Just from being here in 2009 and seeing the teams we played, we left there with a bitter taste. We knew if we executed well and hit at the right time, that we had a good chance.”
 
Wendle, Heyne, Provine, Raimo and Gunkel were all named to the All-Tournament team from West Chester University.

NOTES: West Chester University captures its first baseball national championship in school history … it marks the second time, and first since men’s soccer in 1961, that a men’s sport at WCU won an NCAA championship … it is fourth NCAA championship in school history (men’s soccer – 1961; women’s lacrosse – 2002, 2008; field hockey – 2011) … coupled with field hockey’s national championship in the fall, it is the first time in school history that West Chester won two NCAA championships in the same academic year … West Chester becomes the first PSAC school to win the NCAA Division II baseball championship … West Chester tied the school record for wins in a single season with 46 (2009) … West Chester improves its record to 5-4 in the NCAA Division II national finals in three appearances … So., RHP Joe Gunkel pitched 18 scoreless innings, allowing just six hits while tossing two complete games, in the College World Series … opponents hit .105 against him in the two games … Sr., SS Josh Heyne hit .417 (5-for-12) with a pair of doubles, three RBI and four runs scored in the College World Series … Sr., 2B Joe Wendle hit .385 (5-for-13) with a pair of doubles, one triple and four runs scored in the College World Series … that tandem made just two errors in 56 chances and turned six double plays in the four games … West Chester head coach Jad Prachniak wins a national championship in his first season as a college baseball head coach … the Golden Rams’ victory marked the fifth straight year that the national champion won the title for the first time in its school history.