LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (41-13) opened up its NCAA Tournament run this afternoon with an 8-0 win over Chowan (31-15) to put themselves just two wins away from advancing to the Super Regionals scheduled for next weekend.
Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequea Valley) (28-5) got the ball for West Chester in the circle and she went five innings scattering just two hits and no runs while striking out five in the victory.
After a relatively quiet first inning of play the West Chester bats came to life in the bottom of the second, as the Golden Rams loaded the bases with just one out, which led to the first run of the game courtesy of a sac fly from
Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson), which scored
Sara Ercolani (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East). This would the extent off the Golden Rams offensive production in the second, but it was enough to give West Chester the early 1-0 lead.
West Chester added to its early lead in the third inning scoring three runs on four hits to jump out to a commanding 4-0 lead.
Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) led the inning off with a double down the left field line to put a runner in scoring position early on.
Madison Kelly (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) did not make her wait long as she followed this up with a triple to score Garber and give West Chester the 2-0 lead. Kelly came into score two batters later courtesy of an RBI single from
Cat Hammer (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) to push the lead to 3-0 in favor of the Golden Rams.
Alyssa Herion (Avon Grove, Pa./Avon Grove) came into score two batters later when
Emily Maseth(Westminster, Md./Westminster) lined a single into right center to push the lead to 4-0.
Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) followed this up by working a walk to reload the bases but Chowan managed to work around this and escape the inning without giving up any additional runs.
In the fourth, Garber led off once again working a walk to reach before advancing to second on a wild pitch. This wild pitch would loom large as Kelly ended her at bat with a single to right center to score Garber and give West Chester the 5-0 lead. This run also closed the book on starting pitcher Shannon Buchanan (16-7) who lasted just three innings surrendering five runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out just two. Shelby Griffis entered in relief of Buchanan and she pitched the remaining 1.2 innings surrendering three runs (one earned) and three hits while walking two.
Garber was back up to her old tricks in the fifth, as she singled through the right side to score Hartman and give West Chester the 6-0 lead. Kelly followed this up with a bases loaded walk to score
Caroline Adams (Media, Pa./Renaissance Academy), thus, extending the lead to 7-0. This lead grew one more time when Hammer singled to right to score Garber, which gave West Chester an 8-0 lead ending the game after five innings of play. Â
West Chester will now settle in and watch the 3:00 p.m. game between Lock Haven and Shepherd to find out who its next opponent will be. West Chester will get the winner of this game at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. The winner of that contest will advance to the Championship game on Saturday and will be just one win away from the Super Regionals while the loser will have to play again at 4 p.m. and will then need to go 3-0 in order to punch its ticket to the next round.
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