Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Freshman Laura Altenburger hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to break a 4-4 tie and lead West Chester to an 8-5 win in the first game of a PSAC East doubleheader against visiting Kutztown Friday. The Bears responded with a 9-3 win in the nightcap.
West Chester (18-7, 1-1 PSAC East) split its conference-opening doubleheader with rival Kutztown (11-11, 1-1).
Altenburger’s first career home run highlighted a six-run fifth that answered Kutztown’s four-spot in the top half of the frame, which knotted things up at 4-all. That was all senior starter Devon Utterback (8-2) needed to pick up her eighth win of the season and lower her ERA below 2.00.
Kutztown scored five runs on 11 hits in game one. However, the Bears committed three errors in the field and left 13 runners on base. West Chester plated eight runs on 12 hits and only committed one error.
Utterback surrendered five runs, four of them earned, while walking two and striking out six.
Ali Vavala went 3-for-3 in the opener with a pair of runs scored. Kelly Anderson and Kim Murl each registered a pair of hits as well. Erin Quense hit a run-scoring double, and Murl rapped out a RBI single, during West Chester’s six-run fifth.
Jess Schuck, playing in her first game since March 10, had a pinch-hit single that plated a run in the fourth for the Golden Rams.
Altenburger was 1-for-3 with another RBI in the nightcap. However, Kutztown scored nine runs on 17 hits, including two home runs and seven extra-base smashes, to capture game two and salvage a split. West Chester managed just three runs on four hits in the second game.
West Chester travels to East Stroudsburg on Saturday for a 1 p.m. conference doubleheader with the Warriors.
