MILLERSVILLE, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team (25-14, 6-2 PSAC) was back in action on Friday afternoon on the road at Millersville(18-25, 1-7 PSAC) for a pivotal PSAC East doubleheader. West Chester rolled to a 6-0 game one victory before utilizing a 10-run seventh inning to earn the game two victory by a final score of 13-3.
Game One:
- After a scoreless and fairly painless first inning for each side, West Chester broke through in the second inning as Tori McCoach (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell-Egan) laced a two-out single to right, which ignited a two-out rally. Gillian Thomas (Spring Mills, W.V./Williamsport) followed this up with an eight-pitch at bat that culminated in a walk before Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) knocked a single to left to load the bases. Fellow Maryland native Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) followed this up with a single to center to plate McCoach and Thomas, thus, giving West Chester a 2-0 lead heading to the home half of the second.
- In the third inning of play, West Chester doubled its lead as the Golden Rams scored another two runs with two outs on the scoreboard after Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) reached on an error by the pitcher before coming around to score on an RBI triple from Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) to extend the lead to 3-0. Stump scored moments later thanks to an RBI single from McCoach, which doubled the lead to 4-0 in favor of the Golden Rams.
- In the bottom of the third, Millersville loaded the bases with just one out, however, Reilly Gearhart (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) was able to work out of trouble to keep the lead at 4-0 heading to the fourth.
- In the top of the fourth, West Chester added another run as Jaime Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) laced an RBI double to score Kim who had reached via an error earlier in the inning to extend the lead to 5-0.
- During the home half of the sixth, Millersville threatened once again as the Marauders loaded the bases once more, but Gearhart was able to work out of trouble, thus, preserving a 5-0 lead heading to the seventh inning of play.
- Caroline Adams (Media, Pa./Renaissance Academy) scampered home via a wild pitch during the seventh, which extended the lead to 6-0.
- This lead proved to be more than enough for Gearhart as she had a big, bounce back start for the purple and gold as she went the distance scattering just five hits while striking out six to improve to 11-6 on the season.
Game Two:
- In the first inning, Millersville claimed an early 2-0 lead courtesy of a wild pitch and a SAC fly to take the early lead over West Chester.
- In the top of the second, West Chester answered back with three runs of its own thanks to a pair of fielders choice's from Hartman and Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) and an RBI single from Maseth to clam a 3-2 lead heading to the home half of the second.
- In the bottom of the fourth, Millersville answered back with a run of its own thanks to an RBI double to center, which evened the score at 3-3 heading to the fifth inning of play.
- In the top of the seventh, the stalemate was broken when Klemas opened the inning with an double to right center, which allowed her to score moments later on an RBI single up the middle by Maseth to give West Chester a late 4-3 lead. This lead grew moments later as McCoach worked a walk to score Maseth while also keeping the bases loaded after a single from McCollester and a walk from Stump prior to McCoach's at bat, which made the score 5-3. Moments later Thomas delivered a two-RBI single down the left field line to score McCollester and Adams to make the score 7-3. Kim added to the lead moments later with a fielders choice RBI of her own, which extended the lead to 8-3. Garber reached on an error by the short stop moments later, which was enough to score Thomas, thus, giving the Golden Rams a commanding 9-3 lead. Maseth added another two runs to the Golden Rams massive inning with another two-RBI single back up the middle to increase the lead to 11-3 in favor of the purple and gold. McCollester recorded another RBI single of her own moments later, which increased the lead to 12-3. Stump doubled home McCollester moments later to increase the lead to 13-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh.
- In the home half of the seventh and trailing by 10, Millersville attempted to mount a comeback as the Marauders got runners on first and second with no outs but Maegen Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) stood tall and retired the next three batters in order with a strikeout and pair of flyouts to lock down the 13-3 victory. Kavanagh (6-2) earned her third victory in the last two weeks this evening after going the distance allowing just three hits and three runs while striking out seven in the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at home opposite Kutztown with that doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m.
