West Chester Drops Pitcher's Duel to Angelo State, 1-0

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SALEM, Va. -  Making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championships since 2014, the West Chester University softball team opened up its final postseason run against South Central Region champion Angelo State on Thursday afternoon inside the James I. Moyer Complex in Salem, Va. West Chester battled hard throughout the afternoon, but a single run from Angelo State in the bottom of the fifth proved to be too much to overcome in the 1-0 defeat.
 
West Chester (45-14) drops into the loser's bracket where it will face No. 1 ranked team in the nation, North Georgia (61-3, at 4 p.m. tomorrow in what will be a must-win game for both teams. Angelo State (53-7) now turns its attention to Southern Indiana, an upset winner over North Georgia Thursday, in the first game of the day tomorrow, at 11 a.m.

Following the theme of the first game of the afternoon between Southern Indiana and North Georgia, the West Chester Golden Rams and Angelo State Rambelles locked horns in a classic pitcher's duel as both Amanda Houck (Gap, Pa./Pequa Valley) and Brandy Marlett pitched very well all afternoon, scattering just seven hits and one run between them, while striking out 12 over the course of the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, Angelo State finally broke through when Brooke Mangold singled home Danae Bina to take a 1-0 lead midway through the contest. Bina led off the frame getting hit by a pitch and was then sacrificed over to second. Mangold singled up the middle, chasing Bina around third and home with the only run of the contest. West Chester worked out of the inning with no further damage to head to the sixth trailing by just one run.

This one run cushion was all the Rambelles of Angelo State would need as Marlett (25-3) was on point all afternoon, tossing a one-hit shutout and striking out seven en route to the 1-0 victory. Marlett set down 17 in a row to end the game, after picking off the Golden Ram's lone baserunner in Cat Hammer (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) during the second inning of play. Hammer hit a sky-high pop up into shallow left field that fell between the Rambelles' left fielder and shortstop for the Golden Rams' only hit of the game.

Houck (31-6) also pitched well throughout the afternoon as she surrendered six hits and just one run over the course of her six innings of work, while striking out five, in the tough 1-0 loss. She got some help from a pair of double plays as the Golden Rams' defense was up to the task as well.
 
"My defense has always picked me up when I've made a mistake with a few pitches," Houck said in a press conference afterwards. "I know they have my back, and they've played great all year."
 
West Chester head coach Diane Lokey praised the effort of her team despite the loss, "We played well today. (Amanda) scattered hits, which is what we ask her to do every time out,"

West Chester vs. North Georgia can be seen live on web stream provided by the NCAA at NCAA.com.