WEST CHESTER, Pa.- On a brisk but sunny Sunday afternoon the West Chester University softball team (22-9, 7-1 PSAC) welcomed the Millersville Marauders (14-13, 3-3 PSAC) to the West Chester softball field for a PSAC East senior day doubleheader. West Chester swept both ends of the doubleheader winning game 4-1 before taking game two 10-2.
Prior to game one West Chester honored its core of seniors in
Sara Ercolani, Brooke Harner, Cat Hammer, Ashley Flesch, Madison Kelly and Amanda Houck (scroll to bottom for pictures)
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Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) (15-3) picked up a pair of victories on the afternoon getting the start and going the distance in game one before picking up the win in relief in game two.
Game One: West Chester 4 Millersville 1
- In the first game of the afternoon, West Chester jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the second Golden Ram batter of the game #Annamarie Hartman# (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) hit her second career home run to give West Chester the early lead.
- This lead grew even bigger in the fourth, when Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) and Madison Kelly (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) hit back-to-back solo home runs to give West Chester the 3-0 lead.
- Millersville got one back in the top of the sixth, but Houck limited the Marauders to just that one run to preserve a 3-1 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth.
- In the home half of the sixth, Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) tripled to left center, which scored Kelly to restore the three-run advantage giving the Golden Rams a 4-1 lead.
- Houck was dominant on the mound as she went seven innings scattering nine hits and one unearned run while striking out 10 to pick up the complete game senior day victory.
Kelly had a great game one as she went 3-for-3 with a solo home run, an RBI and a pair of runs scored to help lead West Chester to the victory.
Game two: West Chester 10 Millersville 2
- West Chester jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the first inning of play once again in game two courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of senior catcher Cat Hammer(Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan), which scored Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) to give the Golden Rams the early lead.
- This lead held until the fourth inning when Millersville managed to push across one run to tie the game at 1-1.The Marauders struck again just one inning later to take the 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. This closed the book on Kelly Tinsman (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame) as she exited with no outs and a runner on second after surrendering the lead. Houck entered in relief and worked around a few base runners to escape the inning with no further trouble thanks in large part to back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
- In the bottom of the fifth, West Chester got back to work first tying the game thanks to an RBI double to left from Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove), which scored Garber to even the score at 2-2. West Chester then took the lead when Kelly worked a two-out walk to score Hartman, thus, giving the Golden Rams a 3-2 advantage. Ercolani followed this up with a double back to the left center fence, which cleared the bases scoring Kelly, Maseth and Herion to give West Chester a commanding 6-2 lead. The Golden Rams were not done as they struck again a few batters later when Garber singled in Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) and Ercolani to increase the lead to 8-2. Hartman delivered the finishing blow when she doubled to left center to score Garber and Sarah Byham (Westampton, N.J./ Holy Cross) to give West Chester the 10-2 lead, which ended the game.
- Tinsman battled hard throughout the afternoon as she went four innings scattering six hits and two runs while recording one strikeout in what was a no-decision for her. Houck entered for the final inning and struck out two to quell the Millersville rally and improve to 15-3 on the year.
Ercolani had an impressive game two as she went 1-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and three crucial RBIs that game in what would become the final inning when she recorded a bases clearing three-run double to help West Chester pick up the game two victory.
West Chester has been dominant at home since the beginning of PSAC play as in home games the Golden Rams have outscored their PSAC opponents 53-7 in such games. Overall West Chester is outscoring its PSAC opponents 64-20 over the course of the first four PSAC doubleheaders of the Spring.
West Chester is back in action on Thursday afternoon when the Golden Rams welcome Goldey-Beacom to the friendly confines for a 2:30 p.m. start.
Senior Day Ceremony Pictures
