Kutztown, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (26-9, 9-1 PSAC) was back in action this afternoon against Kutztown (12-17, 1-9 PSAC) and the Golden Rams picked up the sweep winning game one 5-3 before taking game two 9-7. These two victories gave the Golden Rams the season sweep of the Golden Bears for the first time since the end of the 2016 season.
Â
Game one: WCU 5 Kutztown 3
- West Chester jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the second inning of play, thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) and a monstrous three-run home run off the bat of Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) to carry the commanding lead into the home half of the second.
- West Chester scored another run in the top of the third when Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) stole third and then scampered home after a throwing error by the pitcher to give West Chester a crucial 5-0 lead.
- Kutztown used an RBI single and two-run home run in the top of the sixth to cut into the West Chester lead but it was not enough as three runs is all the Golden Bears could muster giving the Golden Rams the 5-3 lead.
- Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) (17-3) got the start in game one and went the distance scattering just five hits and three unearned runs over the course of her seven innings while striking out three.
Game two: WCU 9 Kutztown 7
- West Chester got on the board first with a sac fly RBI off the bat of Cat Hammer (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) to score Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), which made the score 1-0 in favor of West Chester.
- Kutztown answered right back in the home half of the inning with three runs of its own thanks to a big RBI triple and two-run home run to take a commanding 3-1 lead to the second.
- West Chester wasted no time getting those runs back in the top of the second, as the Golden Rams scored four runs of their own thanks to RBI singles from McCollester and Hammer and a two-RBI double from Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep). This four run outburst put the Golden Rams back out in front by a margin of 5-3.
- Kutztown had an answer once again as the Golden Bears posted three runs of their own in the home half of the second to take back the 6-5 lead heading to the third.
- West Chester and Kutztown continued to trade blows in the third, as West Chester answered with another two runs thanks to another RBI single from McCollester and an RBI double from Garber to regain a 7-6 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
- This 7-6 lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth when Kutztown pushed one more across thanks to some crafty base running to even the score at 7-7 heading to the seventh.
- In the top of the seventh, as they had done all day long the Golden Rams bats had an answer as Ercolani broke the tie with a massive two-run home run to score Madison Kelly (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) give West Chester the 9-7 lead. The Golden Rams kept the Golden Bears quiet in the home half to hang on for the victory.
- Kelly Tinsman (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame) got the start in game two and she lasted just 1.2 surrendering five hits and six runs (three earned) before giving way to Maegen Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) who pitched well over the next 3.1 surrendering four hits and one unearned run while striking out one. Houck entered for the final two innings and she struck out three while not allowing a hit over her two innings of work in game two. This performance was enough to allow Houck to pick up her team best 18th win of the season.
Â
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home in a doubleheader against Holy Family beginning at 12 p.m.
Â
