West Chester and Tampa are all that remain in the 2026 DII baseball championship. Tampa, which already has the most DII baseball national championships all-time, will be looking to make history as the first three-peat-er in the sport's illustrious history. West Chester is looking to win No. 3, and winning its third would move the Golden Rams into a third-place tie for the most national championships in DII baseball history.
⚾🏆 Bracket, schedule, scores 🏆⚾
These are two experienced, well-coached teams. They are also the No. 1 and No. 2 seed, which is exactly how it was in last year's first-ever best-of-three championship series. You want a heavyweight battle? You got one.
The DII baseball championship series: How to watch
Both West Chester and Tampa have swept through their respective part of the bracket, meaning we jump right into the best-of-three championship series. There will be no doubleheaders, with one game on June 4-6 from the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. First pitch of Game 1 is Thursday, June 4 at 6 p.m. ET. You can watch every pitch right here, or on the NCAA Championships Pass app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, and other devices.
West Chester vs. Tampa, by the numbers
| Team | Avg. | OPS | Runs scored | Home runs | ERA | WHIP | K/9 | BAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Chester | .314 | .937 | 482 | 56 | 3.96 | 1.35 | 8.0 | .263 |
| Tampa | .316 | .920 | 484 | 62 | 2.89 | 1.18 | 5.0 | .231 |
Hitters to watch:
- West Chester: Caleb Strawhecker (.357, 1.077 OPS, eight home runs, 45 RBIs); Carter Rust (.348, .978 OPS, eight home runs, 46 RBIs); Austin Slater (.347, 1.073 OPS, 11 home runs, 60 RBIs); Hunter Smith (.347, 1.056 OPS, seven home runs, 57 RBIs)
- Tampa: Brayden Woodburn (.395, 1.128 OPS, 10 home runs, 52 RBIs); Jhoander Irigoyen (.378, 1.067 OPS, 11 home runs, 65 RBIs); Jordan Evans (.355, 1.026 OPS, eight home runs, 48 RBIs); Jake Brooks (.337, .996 OPS, seven home runs, 52 RBIs)
Pitchers to watch:
- West Chester: Julian Costa (13-2, 2.63 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 81 strikeouts); Kyle Lazer (3.75 ERA, 8-1, 1.38 WHIP, 62 strikeouts)
- Tampa: Robert Satin (13-2, 2.41 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 110 strikeouts); B.J. Bailey (13-0, 1.96 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 103 strikeouts)
The DII baseball championship series, previewed
DII baseball fans are in for a treat. Tampa and West Chester have been two of the very best from first pitch and may just be the cream of the crop in all DII baseball. West Chester entered the tournament No. 1 in KPI, No. 23 in NET and at No. 8 in the DII baseball Power 10 rankings, while Tampa was No. 3 in KPI, No. 4 in NET and No. 3 in the Power 10. Additionally, in the vipkrikya888.com annual "kings of the hill" article that breaks down DII baseball's best pitchers, both teams had pitchers on the list, with Tampa's Robert Satin and B.J. Bailey along with West Chester's no-hit guru Julian Costa making the cut.
A simple look at the offensive stats shows how evenly matched these teams are at the plate. On top of that, both teams' top hitters have been red hot. The Golden Rams' top hitter Caleb Strawhecker has recorded at least one hit in all but one of their eight DII baseball championship games, while Tampa's Brayden Woodburn has been unstoppable in Cary, with nine hits in three games to go along with six huge RBIs and six more runs scored.
We know the story of how to stop West Chester by now. Statistically by the numbers, simply keep the Golden Rams off the bases. They are now 26-1 when scoring in the first inning and 38-1 when scoring six or more runs in a game. That has been problematic for opposing pitchers as the Rams have scored at least six runs in every DII baseball championship game and 11 of their last 13 games, with a record of 12-1 over that span. What Tampa has done at the plate is mind-boggling. The Spartans have trailed just four times in the entire tournament: twice to Rollins, once to West Florida and then again in Wednesday's semifinal win over Catawba. In each of those four games, the opponents held the lead for a couple of outs as Tampa stormed back in the bottom half of each of those innings and either tied it up or went ahead for good. If West Chester wants to win, it needs to hang seriously crooked numbers and do it early.
The pitching is what separates Tampa from, well, everyone. Julian Costa, West Chester's No. 1, has been great since the super regionals, going seven innings in both starts and allowing just three runs while striking out 12. But Robert Satin and B.J. Bailey are on another level. These are two true aces that can strike batters out in bunches and limit runs... neither has allowed an earned run in Cary, as Bailey hasn't allowed more than three runs in the tournament thus far. When you throw in John Luke Glanton, who allowed two runs in the semifinal win over Catawba and two runs to lock up the regional against Rollins, there is simply no rest against this rotation. That's why Tampa leads DII baseball in ERA and WHIP. That's why Tampa has allowed just five runs in three Cary games. And when you throw in a nearly flawless defense (that leads DII in fielding percentage) behind them, there are very few errors on which to capitalize.
Tampa and West Chester have faced each other five times in program history, and the Spartans are 4-1 in those matchups. Will this be a walk in the park for Tampa? That is highly doubtful with how well West Chester has played all season against nationally ranked teams. This series could go either way, but there is something magical in the Spartans dugout this time of year that will make it very difficult for West Chester.
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