Mercyhurst-Lock Haven Box Score
West Chester-Mercyhurst Box Score
Lock Haven-West Chester Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Erin MacNamee hit two home runs and drove in eight in a 14-3 win over Mercyhurst. However, Lock Haven scored four runs in the first inning and made them stand up in a 4-0 win in the final game of day one at the 2010 PSAC Softball Tournament on a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon at South Campus Complex.
West Chester (30-16) will play Lock Haven (22-19) at 12 p.m. on Saturday in a must-win situation in the double-elimination tournament. A win by the Golden Rams would force a second game on Saturday immediately following the first. Lock Haven defeated Mercyhurst (23-23), 6-5 in eight innings, in the first game of three played on Friday at West Chester.
MacNamee hit a three-run homer to right-center in the second inning and added a grand slam down the left field line in the fourth to help West Chester end Mercyhurst’s season with a 14-3 win in five innings in the second game of the day. She also singled in a run in the first inning.
The Golden Rams jumped on the Lakers early with a four-run first and a three-run second, thanks to MacNamee’s home run. West Chester, serving as the visiting team for the contest, then posted seven runs in the fourth, highlighted by MacNamee’s eighth home run of the season, to put the game out of reach and end it after five.
Brooke Muth (15-9) tossed a complete game, scattering seven hits and allowing two earned runs. She walked one and struck out two. Amanda Norman (8-9) suffered the loss for Mercyhurst.
Katie Kmiecinski went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the win over the Lakers. Stef Kerbacher was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI as well. Evelyn Anderson and Sam Ingersoll scored three runs each. Ingersoll was walked three times in the game.
Muth suffered the loss in the nightcap, allowing all four runs in the first inning against Lock Haven. Freshman Devon Utterback came on in relief and pitched 6.1 innings of scoreless ball. She walked seven, but the Eagles stranded 12 base runners, including leaving the bases loaded in two straight frames.
Becca Bailey (16-11) picked up her second win of the afternoon against West Chester. She tossed a complete game, two-hitter, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Evelyn Anderson’s one-out single to center broke up the no-no for Bailey. MacNamee singled in the seventh for the Rams’ only other base hit.
Lock Haven, the four-time defending PSAC champions and defending national champs, need just one win on Saturday to advance to the finals of the conference tournament next weekend.
In PSAC softball tournament action elsewhere, Bloomsburg defeated Kutztown, 3-2, at home to advance to Saturday afternoon without a loss. The Huskies will play the Golden Bears again on Saturday at noon in an elimination game. Both Kutztown and Bloomsburg defeated Edinboro earlier in the day to eliminate the Fighting Scots.
At California, Pa., the host Vulcans picked up a pair of wins to advance to Saturday without a loss. Cal will play Indiana (Pa.) in an elimination game at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Both Cal and IUP defeated East Stroudsburg, eliminating the Warriors from the postseason.
All three host sites (Bloomsburg, Cal, West Chester) had a team eliminated on the first day and saw a team advance to Saturday with a perfect 2-0 record (Bloomsburg, Cal and Lock Haven). Lock Haven was the only low seed to go undefeated on the first day. They were also the only No. 3 seed to survive the first day at all.
