Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Kim Murl tossed a three-hit shutout in the opener, and Laura Altenburger and Megan Kelly each homered in the nightcap to lead West Chester to its third conference doubleheader sweep in as many days over visiting Millersville Wednesday afternoon on South Campus.
West Chester (19-10, 8-2 PSAC East) ran its winning streak to six straight games and strengthened its lead on first place in the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Golden Rams have won 20 of the last 26 meetings between the two clubs, dating back to 2008, and are 11-3 against the Marauders (14-12, 4-4) at home.
Murl (5-2) went the distance inside the circle in game one, throwing just 64 pitches, 47 of them for strikes, and inducing 18 ground-ball outs. A pair of flyballs and a pair of scratch singles were the only balls to leave the infield all day against the senior hurler. Millersville's other hit was an infield single in the seventh off Murl's glove.
Murl faced just one batter over the minimum through the first six innings. Mandy Hammond's single up the middle with two outs in the top of the third inning was the only base runner Murl allowed until the two singles in the seventh.
Jill Murray hit an opposite-field, two-run homer to right-center with two outs in the second, Jess Schuck walked with the bases loaded in the fourth and Char Conaway smashed a solo home run to left-center in the sixth to provide all the offense Murl would need.
Kelly hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning in the nightcap to put the Golden Rams on top early. Altenburger followed with a two-run shot in the second, and West Chester plated four runs in the third to stretch the advantage to 7-0. Altenburger had a RBI double in the four-run third while Erin Whitman hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, and Murray and J.P. Norris legged out a pair of infield singles that scored a run each.
Millersville responded with a single tally in the sixth and seventh innings each. However, the Marauders stranded runners at first and second in the seventh to end the game.
Katie Erb (6-6) evened her record on the year with five strong innings. She allowed one run on four hits and struck out two. Micaela McSpadden threw two innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits for the Golden Rams.
West Chester will be off until Friday when the Golden Rams travel to East Stroudsburg for a PSAC East doubleheader. They will return home for another Eastern Division showdown with Bloomsburg at 1 p.m.
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