CARY, NC — The Golden Rams won an hours-long, come from behind rematch with the University of Texas at Tyler on Wednesday afternoon, advancing to the NCAA Division 2 national championship.
Trailing 5-2 heading into the 8th inning and unable to get going against Tyler ace Dylan Blomquist, West Chester rallied for four unanswered runs. They held off Tyler in the 8th and 9th to win, 6-5.
They will now face the winner of Tampa and Catawba as they seek the third national title in program history and first since 2012.
Original story
The West Chester University's men's baseball team is one win away from the national championship game.
The Golden Rams will battle the University of Texas at Tyler on Wednesday, June 3 at 1:30 p.m. Watch the game live on the NCAA's site here.
If they win, they advance to the final. If they lose, because they're undefeated thus far, they'll play a second match against UT Tyler to see who advances to the final.
The Rams already beat UT Tyler, which now sits on the brink of elimination, 8-3 on Monday. They had 16 hits.
"The boys competed their butts off tonight," head coach Mike LaRosa said in a statement. "I'm really proud of this group for the way they battled against a really tough UT-Tyler group. On both sides, we had to fight and claw our way through some innings, but credit to our pitching staff for battling all night and making big pitches in big spots, and our offense for executing the game plan as well as they did."
Should West Chester prevail, they'll face the winner of the other semifinal game between Tampa and Catawba.
The 46-10 Golden Rams have been dominant throughout the year and have shown no signs of slowing down in the tourney, matching the most victories in a single season in program history with their latest win on Monday.
They have won two national championships, including in 2012.
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