SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- The West Chester University softball team took to the road on Saturday afternoon for a PSAC East doubleheader against Shippensburg with major postseason implications for the potential Tournament lives of both teams. This afternoon's doubleheader followed a similar script to the first doubleheader of the year between the two rivals as Shippensburg prevailed in game one by a slim 2-0 margin before West Chester recorded a shortened, eight-run (8-0) victory in the second game to record the split. This split also results in a split of the season series as each team captured a pair of games in the four game season series for the second season in a row.
This afternoon's split enables West Chester to remain in first place atop the PSAC East standings entering the final week of the regular season as the Golden Rams now possess a record of 28-17 and a mark of 9-5 in PSAC East play.
Game One: SHIP 2 WCU 0
- The first game of the afternoon was a low-scoring affair as Shippensburg scored the only two runs of the contest during the second inning of play.
- In the second, Shippensburg used a series of two out base hits to claim the 2-0 lead that it would never relinquish.
- In the sixth inning, West Chester threatened as Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) led off the inning with a hard-hit single to left but strong defense from the Raiders proved to be enough to keep West Chester off the scoreboard.
- Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) got the start in the circle and took the loss falling to 5-4 on the year after going just two innings allowing a pair of runs on six hits while striking out just one. Maegen Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) finished the game in the circle scattering just a pair of hits while also striking out a pair of keep the Golden Rams within striking distance down the stretch.
Game Two: WCU 8 SHIP 0 (5 Inn)
- In the second game of the afternoon, West Chester wasted little time in snapping its scoreless streak as Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) led the game off with a single once again before coming around to score on an RBI single from Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) to give the Golden Rams the 1-0 lead.
- During the third inning, Maseth extended the lead with an RBI single to score Garber once again, which doubled the lead to 2-0.
- In the top of the fourth, Garber connected on an RBI single before Jaime Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) recorded a three-RBI double, which gave the purple and gold a commanding 6-0 lead heading to the home half of the fourth.
- During the home half of the fourth, Shippensburg threatened as the Raiders recorded back-to-back singles to open the inning but Reilly Gearhart (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) worked around these base runners to preserve the 6-0 lead.
- In the fifth, West Chester extended its lead for the final time as Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) reached on an error that scored Naiya Murrey (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) to make the score 7-0 before Garber recorded another RBI single to plate Tori McCoach (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) and give West Chester the 8-0 lead.
- Gearhart slammed the door in the home half of the fifth to give West Chester the 8-0 victory in five innings. Gearhart improved to 14-6 on the year with this victory as she scattered just three hits over the course of her five innings of work while fanning five Raiders to earn the victory. This victory also extends Gearhart's scoreless inning streak to 26 consecutive, scoreless innings.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action on Monday afternoon on the road at Goldey-Beacom with that doubleheader set to begin at 2:30 p.m.
