WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (22-13, 3-1 PSAC East) welcomed the Shippensburg Raiders (15-9, 1-1 PSAC East) to South Campus on a sunny, Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader with potentially major PSAC East implications. West Chester earned a split in this pivotal doubleheader as the Golden Rams dropped game one by a final of 8-4 before coming back to win game two by a final of 10-2 in six innings.
Game One:
Shippensburg opened the scoring during the top of the first to claim an early 1-0 lead, which the Raiders doubled during the second inning to claim an early 2-0 lead. Shippensburg added another two runs to its lead during the third frame, which gave the visiting Raiders a commanding 4-0 lead. Shippensburg added one more run during the top of the fifth to extend its lead to 5-0.
In the home half of the fifth, Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) and Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) laced back-to-back two RBI singles to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Unfortunately, this is as close as the Golden Rams would get to evening the score as the Raiders scored another two runs during the sixth inning before registering another run in the seventh to earn the 8-4 victory.Â
Reilly Gearhart (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) got the start in the circle and lasted just 2.1 innings surrendering seven hits and four runs (three earned) in the loss. Kelly Tinsman (Ewing, N.J./Notre Dame) entered in relief and went the next three innings surrendering four hits and three runs before exiting in favor of Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) who finished the game in the circle surrendering two hits and a run while striking out one over the course of the final 1.2.
Game Two:
In the second game of the afternoon, West Chester wasted little time in claiming an early lead as McCollester roped a two-RBI double to left center before coming around to score on a single up the middle by Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) to give the purple and gold an early 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, McCollester added another two runs to this lead with a two-run home run down the left field line to give West Chester a commanding 5-0 lead. This home run was the sixth of the season for the senior, which sets a new career high for the senior catcher.
Shippensburg answered back with a run of its own during the fourth inning to trim the lead to 5-1 but McCollester and WCU had an answer as she laced another RBI double to make the score 6-1 and restore the Golden Rams five-run lead.
In the top of the sixth, Shippensburg got another run back to trim the lead to 6-2 heading to the home half of the sixth. The home half of the sixth inning proved to be the final inning of regulation as McCollester recorded yet another RBI single to drive in Emily Kim (Westminster, Md./Westminster) and keep the bases loaded. Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) and Stump followed this up with bases loaded walks to bring in the eighth and ninth runs of the contest for West Chester before Tori McCoach (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) ended the contest with an RBI fielder's choice, which increased the lead to 10-2, thus, bringing the game to an early conclusion.
Maegan Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) was sharp inside the circle as she went the distance surrendering six hits and just two runs (one earned) while striking out five to give West Chester a crucial game two victory.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Friday, April 5th at 1 p.m. on the road at East Stroudsburg.
