Klemas Grand Slam, Torrens CG Shutout Highlight Softball Sweep Over Lock Haven

WEST CHESTER, PA - It was been 363 days since the Golden Rams played a softball game, and West Chester seemed to pick up right where it left off in 2020 with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Lock Haven Wednesday afternoon on South Campus.
 
West Chester softball opened its regular season almost one year to the day that COVID-19 shut down intercollegiate athletics at the school and around the country. It was West Chester University's first collegiate contest since March 12 of last spring. The Golden Rams won game one, 11-10, and followed up in game two with a 9-0 victory.
 
Senior OF Jamie Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) blasted a grand slam to left field that extended The Golden Rams' lead to 9-4 in the second inning of the opener. Her first home run of the season followed a two-run shot by sophomore catcher Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) in the first.
 
Senior Jen Hanshaw (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) came on in relief of freshman starter Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) and threw five innings to pick up her first win of the season.
 
In the nightcap, Anna Torrens (Holmes, Pa./Ridley) tossed a complete-game shutout in a game shortened to five innings. Senior Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Pampeter-Strasburg) went 2-for-2 with a RBI and three runs scored while classmate Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME ONE

• Kopinetz's home run to center field gave West Chester a 2-1 lead after one.
• Klemas' grand slam highlighted a 7-run second that answered a 3-run frame from Lock Haven, giving the hosts a 9-4 lead.
• Lock Haven wasn't done, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth that would eventually tie the game at nine.
• Klemas and Picozzi each singled in a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump back out in front, 11-9.
• Lock Haven got one more back in the seventh, but it was not enough.
• Hanshaw (1-0) gave up four runs on six hits and struck out six in five innings of work for the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED | GAME TWO

• West Chester scored in each of the first four innings to put an end to the nightcap early.
• Stump started the Golden Rams off with a RBI single down the left line in the bottom of the first.
• Kopinetz and Annamarie Hartman (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier College Prep) both contributed two-run doubles in the second and third innings to open up a 6-0 cushion.
• Stump's two-run single up the middle, and Torrens' RBI double later in the frame closed out the scoring.
• Torrens (1-0) tossed a four-hit shutout in five innings of work. She walked three and struck out three.

INSIDE THE STATS | GAME ONE

• Melvin stole two bases and scored three times for the Golden Rams.
• Klemas finished game one with five RBI while Kopinetz went 2-for-2 with three RBI.
• Annamarie Hartman went 2-for-3.

 
INISDE THE STATS| GAME TWO

• Grace Aguilar  (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) stole two bases in the nightcap.
• Five of the Golden Rams' nine starters registered multiple hits as West Chester rapped out 13 base hits in the win.
• Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) went 2-for-3 with a run scored in her first college start.

West Chester is back on the softball field on Saturday against Mansfield University for another PSAC East doubleheader. Games are scheduled to begin at 1pm and 3pm.