West Chester Sweeps East Stroudsburg

WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester softball team (17-8, 2-0 PSAC) opened conference play on Saturday afternoon against East Stroudsburg (7-15, 1-3 PSAC) and West Chester took both games winning game one 5-2 before taking game two 13-0 in four and a half innings.
 
Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) went the distance in game one surrendering just the two runs (one earned) en route to her 10^th victory (10-3) of the season. Kelly Tinsman (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame) (5-0)  went the distance in game two going five innings surrendering just two hits and no runs in the victory.
 
Offensively, Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) had a huge afternoon as she ended the day a perfect 5-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Golden Rams offense.
 
Game One Final: West Chester 5 East Stroudsburg 2

• In the second inning, East Stroudsburg broke through for one run to take its first and only lead of the afternoon.
• West Chester answered right back during the home half of the second as Ercolani hit a solo home run to left to tie the game at 1-1. Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) followed this up with an RBI single to give the Golden Rams the 2-1 lead. Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) followed this up with a three-run home run, which was also the first home run of her career to give the Golden Rams a commanding 5-1 lead after two innings of play.
• East Stroudsburg managed to plate one more run in the fourth inning, which cut the lead to 5-2 but this is all the Warriors were able to muster this afternoon.
• Houck was dominant on the mound as she went seven strong surrendering just four hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out four en route to the game one victory.

 
Game Two Final: West Chester 13 East Stroudsburg 0 (4 ½ innings)

• West Chester had a huge day offensively as the Golden Rams pounded out 13 runs on 13 hits while also capitalizing on three East Stroudsburg errors.
• In the first inning, West Chester jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead thanks to RBI singles from Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster), Madison Kelly (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) and) and Ercolani a successful steal of home by Kelly on a double steal.
• In the second, West Chester was right back up to its old tricks as #Cat Hammer# (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) drove home a run with a sac fly before Ercolani struck again doubling home Kelly and Maseth, which extended the lead to 8-0.
• In the third, Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) took a 3-1 pitch deep over the left center fence driving in Ercolani to push the lead to 10-0. West Chester tacked on another run before the inning was over when Hartman drovea single back up the middle to score Garber, hich gave West Chester a commanding 11-0 lead.
• Freshman Jamie Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) recorded a two-run home run of her own during the fourth inning to make the score 13-0 in favor of West Chester.
• On the mound Tinsman was sharp all afternoon as she surrendered just two hits over her five innings of work while striking one.

 
Next up:
West Chester will square off against Kutztown on Monday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. in another crucial PSAC East doubleheader.