Full Replay (UC San Diego vs. West Chester)
DENVER, Colo.- In need of a victory to stave off elimination on day two of the NCAA Division II Softball National Finals for the second year in a row, the West Chester University Golden Rams (40-21) squared off against the UC San Diego Tritons (37-17). West Chester stormed back in the final three innings of play after being no-hit for the opening four innings to claim a thrilling 7-6 comeback victory, which also advanced the purple and gold to the third day of the National Finals for the second time in team history.
How it Happened:
UC San Diego raced out to an early lead thanks to a bloop single into left following a leadoff walk earlier in the inning to give the visitors the early 1-0 lead. Reilly Gearhart (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township)avoided further damage by striking out the final batter of the inning to send the game to the home half of the first with West Chester trailing by just one.
In the home half of the first, West Chester saw Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) and Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) both reach via errors by the UC San Diego to give West Chester runners on the corners with no outs. UC San Diego pitcher Robyn Wampler was up to the task as she worked around the Golden Rams two early runners to hold on to her one run lead heading to the top of the second.
In the top of the second, UC San Diego doubled its lead via an RBI double off the right field fence to give the Tritons an early 2-0 lead. This also closed the book on Gearhart who lasted just 1.2 surrendering three hits and two runs while walking a pair and striking out just one.
After the top of the second, offense came at a premium for the next few innings as neither side was able to push across any runs over the course of the next two and half innings to send the game to the fifth with the score locked at 2-0.
In the top of the fifth, UC San Diego broke through once again with a three-run shot down the left field line to give the Tritons a commanding 5-0 lead heading to the home half of the fifth.
In the home half of the fifth, Garber registered the first hit of the contest for West Chester with a bunt single in between the circle and third base to give the purple and gold runners on first and second with two outs. Hartman followed this up with a single to right to score pinch runner Naiya Murrey (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) who had pinch run for Gillian Thomas (Spring Mills, W.V./Williamsport) who had drawn her 32nd walk of the season earlier in the inning to help West Chester avoid the shutout. Unfortunately, Garber was cut down attempting to reach third on the play to bring the inning to a close and send the game to the sixth with the Golden Rams trailing by four (5-1).
In the sixth inning, UCSD struck once again with another RBI double to give the Tritons a commanding 6-1 lead heading to the home half of the sixth.
Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) etched her name into the record book during the sixth inning of play as she became just the thirdGolden Ram in team history to hit a home run at the National Finals while also becoming the first to do so since fellow third baseman and current assistant coach Laura Altenburger in 2014 as she deposited a solo shot over center field fence to cut the deficit to 6-2. Back-to-back walks by Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) and Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown)closed the book on UC San Diego starter Wampler who tossed five-plus innings surrendering two runs on three hits while walking four and striking out just two. Jaime Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) hit a long single off the top of the left field fence to score McCollester and trim the deficit to 6-3. Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) worked a four-pitch walk to bring in another run and trim the deficit to 6-4. Garber plated another run with an RBI groundout back to the circle, which cut the deficit to 6-5. Alanna Phillips entered in relief of Wampler and recorded just two outs before exiting in favor of Wampler who re-entered to try and slam the door on the West Chester rally. Wampler managed to fan Hartman to send the game to the seventh with West Chester trailing by just one (6-5).
Maegen Kavanagh (Easton, Pa./Easton) entered in relief of Gearhart during the top of the second and tossed the next 4.1 surrendering four runs on three hits before exiting in favor Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) who pitched the seventh inning for West Chester and allowed the first two runners of the inning to reach before working out of trouble to keep West Chester trailing by just one heading to the home half of the seventh.
In the home half of the seventh, Maseth and McCollester worked a pair of walks, which allowed West Chester to even the score at 6-6 after a sinking line drive single into right from Klemas and a poor throw back in. This tied the game at 6-6 with just one out while giving West Chester runners on second and third. Stump came into score moments later when Tori McCoach (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan) reached on a fielding error by the shortstop to give the purple and gold the thrilling 7-6 comeback victory.'
Hanshaw earned the victory in the circle after entering in relief to improve to 7-5 on the year while Wampler took the loss to drop to 24-9 on the year and bring the Tritons season to its conclusion.
What they said:
"It was a 7-6 victory, we came from behind and just never gave up..." stated Lokey "When our team freed up we started having better at bats and we became much more confident. Really throughout the game we were confident and we knew that all we needed was someone who could get the rally going for us and Emily (Maseth) provided that vital spark."
"I have never been on a team like this before with the way we fight and fight for one another throughout the game. This team is truly just awesome to be a part of and the vibe that we have this year is incredible as we are really happy to be where we are and happy for the opportunities we have" stated McCollester.
Up Next:
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow afternoon opposite Young Harris College beginning at 1:30 p.m.
