CALIFORNIA, Pa. – West Chester University makes its second appearance in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in as many years on Thursday morning when the Golden Rams take on Lock Haven University in the first of two games.
The winner of West Chester vs. Lock Haven will play again at 3 p.m. in the double-elimination pod. The loser will have to turn around and play right afterwards at 1 p.m. against the host of the three-team pod, California (Pa.) University. The loser of that second game of the day will play at 3 p.m.
The finals of the pod will be played Friday.
Last season, West Chester won the Eastern Division of the PSAC and hosted one of the three-team pods in the opening weekend of the PSAC postseason tournament. The Golden Rams advanced to the conference finals by virtue of defeating Lock Haven twice on the second day.
Thursday is a rematch of that postseason showdown. These two schools were scheduled to meet in the regular season. However, that doubleheader was cancelled as the two schools needed to make up league contests.
Thursday’s appearance in the conference tournament marks just the second time in West Chester’s softball program’s history that it has reached the conference playoffs. This weekend provides a tremendous opportunity for West Chester to make an impression within the Atlantic Region and, hopefully, make one final push for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Both Cal and Lock Haven are ranked rather high in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region rankings. West Chester is not currently ranked and would most likely need to survive the weekend and advance to the conference finals next Friday to have a shot at NCAAs.
Below is the schedule of events for the double-elimination tournament at Cal. For more information, please click HERE.
THURSDAY, APRIL 21
West Site – California
Game 1 – 11 a.m. --- Lock Haven vs. West Chester
Game 2 – 1 p.m. --- California vs. Game 1 loser
Game 3 – 3 p.m. --- California vs. Game 1 winner
FRIDAY, APRIL 22
Game 4 - noon --- Game 5 - 2 p.m.
