Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – West Chester University clinched a postseason bid with a sweep over visiting Millersville in a PSAC East softball doubleheader Friday afternoon. The Golden Rams defeated the Marauders, 11-6, in game one and 2-1 in the nightcap.
West Chester (27-16, 8-6 PSAC East) clinched its second straight PSAC postseason berth by virtue of its 11-6 win in the opener. Millersville (13-21, 3-11) trailed the Rams by three games with four to play entering today’s twinbill. The Marauders have now fallen five games back in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division.
Katie Kmiecinski hit a grand slam, her team-leading sixth home run of the season, in the bottom of the first inning to help erase a 2-0 deficit and put the Golden Rams on top for good. Megan Kelly then sparked a four-run third with a two-run double, followed by a RBI single from Erin MacNamee and a sacrifice fly from J.P. Norris.
Millersville rallied for three runs in the fourth to draw within three (8-5). But, MacNamee threw out Marauders’ Kelly Fitzgerald at the plate trying to score on a flyout to left that completed a double play and got West Chester out of the inning without anymore damage.
The Marauders tacked on one more run in the fifth to make it 8-6. However, the Rams put up a three-spot in the sixth to put the game away. Nicole Cruts and Kelly Anderson each singled with the bases loaded, driving in one run each, while Kelly hit a sacrifice fly for the third tally.
Devon Utterback (13-5) lasted four innings and pick up the win inside the circle. She allowed six runs, four of them earned, on seven hits, walking five and striking out one. Kim Murl (4) threw three innings of hitless relief for the save. She helped Utterback out of the jam in the fifth inning.
West Chester scored a pair of runs in the third inning and made that hold up en route to a 2-1 win in the nightcap. MacNamee hit a RBI single, and Abby Block had a RBI groundout, in that decisive third inning.
Millersville retaliated with a two-out RBI single in the top of the fourth, but that was all Murl (12-8) would allow in picking up the win. She scattered four hits over seven innings, striking out one, throughout the complete game.
The Golden Rams travel to Kutztown on Sunday for its final two PSAC East games of 2011. West Chester is one game behind Kutztown in the league standings, setting the stage for a battle for second place in the East. Sunday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m.
