Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Nicole Cruts went 4-for-4 with a RBI double, and Devon Utterback tossed a complete-game, four-hitter in the nightcap, as host West Chester University managed a split of its doubleheader that opened the Rams’ home slate.
Kelly Anderson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the second game as well. Utterback (3-2) allowed four runs on four hits and struck out four on a frigid and overcast Sunday afternoon that witnessed a brief flurry of snow at the beginning of the second game. That flurry was followed by the hosts’ four-run flurry in the bottom of the first inning and was enough to put West Chester in the driver’s seat the rest of the way.
The Golden Rams sent eight batters to the plate, with the first four reaching safely, in that frame. WCU scored one more in the second inning to jump out in front 5-0. Shepherd starting pitcher, Alexis Fisher (2-1) was pulled in the second after facing 11 batters and managing to get just three of them out.
Cruts fueled the Rams’ 13-hit attack with the second 4-for-4 outing in her career. Anderson, Jess Russ and Charlotte Conaway each had a pair of hits.
West Chester (6-4) dropped a heartbreaker in the first game against Shepherd (6-2). The Shepherd Rams leadoff hitter, Chelsie Oals, hit a two-out, two-run homer on a 2-2 pitch from Kim Murl (2-2) for the eventual game-winning hit. The Golden Rams were one strike from claiming a win in the opener.
Oals’ heroics overshadowed Cruts’ and Abby Block’s back-to-back home runs to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. Those blasts broke a scoreless tie in what turned out to be a very tight ballgame. Murl completed the game, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out two. She did not walk a batter and retired the side in order three times.
Shepherd left-hander, Tricia Bettura (3-1), allowed two earned runs on six hits to collect the complete-game win.
West Chester returns to South Campus Field on Tuesday for another non-conference doubleheader against Philadelphia University. First-pitch is at 2 p.m.
