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Box Score 2 WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Senior Devon Utterback threw a pair of shutouts as host West Chester swept a PSAC East softball doubleheader from visiting Millersville to climb back into the race for the division title and a playoff spot Tuesday afternoon.
West Chester (24-11, 4-4 PSAC East) has picked up four wins in the last 48 hours as they prepare for a trip to Kutztown on Friday and another pivotal conference doubleheader. Millersville (23-11, 3-5) did not score a run in either of the two games Tuesday, falling 4-0 in the opener and 3-0 in the nightcap.
Utterback (12-3) pitched both ends of the doubleheader for the first time this spring, scattering three hits over seven innings in the opener while striking out seven and not walking a single batter. For an encore, she threw a four-hitter in the second game, walking three and striking out five in another complete-game win. Utterback has thrown 19 innings in the past two days, picking up three of West Chester’s last four victories.
The Golden Rams took advantage of one error and one passed ball in the nightcap to score three unearned runs Brianna Andraos (8-3). WCU scored once in the second and twice in the sixth. J.P. Norris hit a RBI single up the middle in the second, and Kelly Anderson sliced a two-run single down the right-field line into the corner in the sixth. That frame was prolonged when Millersville’s catcher dropped a called third strike on the second batter of the inning.
The Marauders threatened in the top of the seventh, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. West Chester head coach Diane Lokey went out to talk with Utterback, but the senior righty convinced her coach that she could close out the game. Sarah Bertoni grounded out to short, and the runners held, Amanda Wink fouled out to the Rams’ third baseman, and Brittany Shoemaker struck out to end the game.
Millersville only got four balls out of the infield in the second game.
West Chester put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in the first game to break open a 1-0 ballgame. The sixth inning was the decisive frame in each end of the doubleheader on Tuesday. Megan Kelly hit a RBI single up the middle that plated Norris, who collided with the catcher, who had to run up the third base line to catch the throw from right field. The ball sailed off the catcher’s glove and into West Chester’s dugout, and Altenburger was awarded home plate while Kelly was awarded third. Anderson later singled through the left side of the infield, scoring Kelly with the third run of the inning.
Jess Schuck hit a two-out single in the fifth to give West Chester it’s initial 1-0 lead.
West Chester and Kutztown both stand at 4-4 and in second place in the PSAC Eastern Division standings. Friday’s twinbill in Kutztown will be very important. The two teams split a doubleheader in West Chester earlier in the year.
