WINTER PARK, FL.- The West Chester University softball team (10-7) was back in action this afternoon opposite Sunshine State Conference foe Rollins (20-5) in non-conference action. West Chester dropped game one of the twin bill by a final score of 6-5 before rebounding to capture game two by a final score of 3-1.
Game One:
Rollins raced out to an early 3-0 lead during the home half of the first courtesy of a three-run homer off the bat of cleanup hitter Grace Street. Rollins added one more to its lead during the third inning of play to make the score 4-0 in favor of the Tars.
However, West Chester remained undeterred as the Golden Rams began to mount their back comeback during the top of the fourth.
Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) got the offense going with an RBI single to drive in
Elizabeth Moore (Northampton, Pa./Northampton), which cut the deficit to 4-1.
Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) followed this up with a two-RBI single of her own to score Kim and
Gillian Thomas (Spring Mills, W.V./Williamsport), thus, cutting the deficit to 4-3 heading to the home half of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth, West Chester claimed its first lead of the day off the strength of a two-run home run from
Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) to give the purple and gold its first lead of the day at 5-4.
Rollins answered back during the home half of the sixth inning as the Tars registered two more runs to claim a 6-5 lead over the Golden Rams.
Street had a strong performance as she also earned the victory in the circle for Rollins while
Maegen Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) was saddled with the loss to fall to 1-1 on the year.
Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley got the start in the circle for West Chester as she went two innings surrendering four hits and three runs before exiting in favor of Kavanagh who went 3.1 scattering five hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out one.
Reilly Gearhart (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) entered in relief of Kavanagh going the final two-thirds of an inning registering one walk and one strikeout in relief.
Game Two:
In the third inning, West Chester scored the first runs of the contest when
Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) continued to give opposing teams headaches with a two-RBI double down the left field line to give the Golden Rams an early 2-0 lead.
This lead grew during the fifth inning of play when
Tori McCoach (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell-Egan) lifted a flyball to left field that was deep enough to plate Maseth, thus, giving McCoach a Sac Fly RBI and giving the Golden Rams a commanding 3-0 lead.
Rollins scored a run of its own during the home half of the fifth on a double to left field, however, this is all the Tars would be able to muster off of Gearhart as she gave the purple and gold six strong innings scattering eight hits and one run while striking out one to earn the victory. Kavanagh entered for the seventh inning of play and worked quickly registering three fly outs to secure the victory and pick up the save for West Chester.
Up Next:
West Chester will have the day off tomorrow before returning to action on Thursday afternoon opposite Slippery Rock and NYIT beginning at 11:15 a.m.
