West Chester Softball Sweeps Chowan

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MURFREESBORO, N.C. – Kim Murl knocked in five runs in the opener, and Jill Murray's RBI double in the nightcap was all visiting West Chester needed to sweep host Chowan, 14-6 in game one and 1-0 in game two, in a non-league softball doubleheader Sunday morning.
 
West Chester (5-3) split its four games in North Carolina over the weekend while Chowan (0-15) continues to search for its first victory of the year.
 
Murl was the do-it-all star of game one. She hit a three-run home run, a two-run double and threw a complete-game inside the circle for her first win of the season. She finished the day at the plate 2-for-3 with five RBI and a pair of runs scored. Her pitching line was five earned runs on 12 hits. She walked three and struck out one in seven innings of work.
 
The Golden Rams scored a pair of runs in the first, five more in the second and tacked on three in the third to jump out to a 10-3 lead on the Hawks. A pair of sacrifice flies and Murl's two-run double highlighted the Rams' big second inning.
 
Jess Schuck knocked in three runs with a two-run single and a RBI groundout. Lauren Altenburger was 3-for-4 at the plate in the opener. Erin Quense also had a pair of RBI on the day for the Golden Rams, who scored 14 runs on 12 hits.
 
In the nightcap, Jill Murray's RBI double in the top of the sixth plated pinch-runner Hayley Bollinger with the only run of the contest. Schuck led off the sixth with a single and Bollinger was inserted to run for her.
 
Eight different players picked up a hit in the second game. Meanwhile, Katie Erb (2-1) came on in relief of starter Sara O'Dell in the second inning and shut down the Hawks the rest of the way. She got out of a two-on and one out jam thanks in part to Quense throwing out a would-be base-stealer. Erb scattered six hits over 5.2 scoreless innings. She walked three and struck out two.
 
West Chester scored one run on eight hits in the nightcap while Chowan was blanked on six hits.
 
West Chester travels to Shepherd University next Saturday for a non-league doubleheader against the Rams. That twinbill was originally scheduled to be a home game for West Chester. However, field conditions necessitated the switch to Shepherd.