IUP Box Score
Kutztown Box Score
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – West Chester rebounded from a loss in its opener of the PSAC Softball Championship semifinals to shutout host Kutztown and advance to the conference championship on an overcast and cool Friday afternoon at North Campus Field.
West Chester (34-18) makes its first appearance in the conference finals Saturday afternoon against No. 17 Indiana (Pa.) (32-6). The Golden Rams dropped a 2-0 decision to the Crimson Hawks on Friday morning, but bounced back for a 2-0 win in its elimination game against host Kutztown (39-14).
“Devon (Utterback) pitched one of her best games of the season,” Rams head coach Diane Lokey said. “That was key coming off the loss to IUP. She kept us in the game until we began playing with some more energy and got some timely hits.”
Now, West Chester has an opportunity to win a PSAC title on Saturday. However, the Golden Rams will have to beat the Hawks twice to hoist the first-place trophy.
“I think the team believes that they can do it,” Lokey explained. “We struggled with their No. 1 pitcher in the morning. But, we made some adjustments and made better contact the second and third times through the order.”
Utterback (17-5) scattered four hits over seven innings to pick up the complete-game win. She walked three and struck out one. Most importantly, she kept Kutztown off the scoreboard until the Golden Rams could put up single runs in both the sixth and the seventh.
Jessica Shuck laced a two-out double to right-center to score pinch-runner Kim Begley with the initial run of the ballgame in the sixth. Then, Erin MacNamee turned the same trick in the seventh with a two-out double to left that scored pinch-runner Mandy Gerhart.
IUP’s Erin Holloway (20-3) limited West Chester to one hit in the opener en route to the 2-0 complete-game shutout. MacNamee’s double in the sixth spoiled Holloway’s no-hit bid. The Crimson Hawks scored once each in the third and fifth innings for all the run support Holloway would need.
Kim Murl (15-10) suffered the loss inside the circle for the Golden Rams. But, the freshman hurler pitched well against the nationally ranked Hawks. She surrendered eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, yielding both IUP runs. She also struck out two and did not walk a batter.
Utterback finished up, allowing one hit and walking two.
