Maseth Single In The 11th Lifts WCU Softball Past Ashland

CLERMONT, Fla. – So., Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) singled to right-center field in the top of the 11th inning, scoring Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) from second with what proved to be the game-winning run, in an 8-7 victory over Ashland at the PFX Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., Friday afternoon.
 
West Chester (7-4) rebounded from a heart-breaking loss to Cedarville in the morning to split its two games.
 
Herion was placed on second base to start the 11th inning per the international tie-breaking rule. The first two batters to the plate were retired, before Maseth singled to right-center, scoring Herion. Left-hander Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) (4-2) kept Ashland quiet in the bottom half of the frame to pick up the win in relief. She pitched the last 5.1 innings, yielding one run on two hits while striking out three.
 
Ashland tied the game at 7-apiece with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh that sent the game into extra innings. The Eagles had plated four in the bottom of the sixth, before tacking on that game-tying run in the seventh to complete a five-run comeback in their final two at bats.
 
West Chester pushed across four in the third to jump out on top early. The Golden Rams then added one in the fifth, following a two-spot from the Eagles in their half of the fourth, and then two more in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to 7-2.
 
Sr., INF Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) highlighted the four-run third with an inside-the-park three-run homer down the right-field line. Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) singled in the other run.
 
Madison Kelly (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) singled in the fifth, stole second and moved up to third on a passed ball, before scoring on a walk. She meandered down the third-base line, before breaking for home when Garber drew a walk. That made it a 5-2 ballgame.
 
In the sixth, Herion singled and reached second on an error. Kelly followed with a RBI single, plating Herion, and then Garber doubled in Kelly for a 7-2 advantage. All the while, starting pitcher Kelly Tinsman (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame) was cruising right along. However, she ran into trouble in the sixth, and Houck was called upon to get the Rams out of the inning clinging to a one-run lead.
 
Tinsman pitched 5.2 innings, allowing six runs – only three of them earned – on 10 hits. She struck out two.
 
Kelly finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and RBI. Garber was 2-for-4, two RBI and one run scored and Ercolani was 1-for-4 with the three-run HR. The first three batters in West Chester's order went a combined 6-for-13 with six RBI and four runs scored.
 
West Chester continues its southern swing at the PFX Spring Games Saturday with contests against Grand Valley State (1:30 p.m.) and Lewis University (3:30 p.m.).