WEST CHESTER, PA – Host West Chester let a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) softball games slip away late as the Golden Rams dropped both ends of a doubleheader with visiting Kutztown on South Campus Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (18-12, 14-12 PSAC East) held a 3-1 lead heading into fifth inning of game one. But, Kutztown (27-11, 21-9) plated one in the fifth and three in the top of the seventh to come from behind and defeat the Golden Rams, 5-3. In the nightcap, West Chester was out in front 5-1. However, Kutztown rallied again to take a 7-5 lead in the sixth. This time, the Golden Rams rallied themselves with single tallies in the fifth and seventh to send the game into extras. Kutztown scored the eventual winning run in the top of the 10th to seal the deal and take the weekend series, 3 games to 1, with an 8-7 win.
Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) hit a ball off the top of the fence in right-center in the bottom half of the seventh inning that scored pinch-runner
Asia Barnard (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) with the tying run. Kopinetz was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, though her opposite field smash was literally inches from being a walk-off home run.
Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI in the extra-inning loss. She passed Cal's Lith Webb (1995-98) and moved into second on the PSAC's all-time hits list. She is just two hits shy of becoming only the second player in conference history to register 300 career hits. She also passed Lock Haven's Julia Popovich (2006-09) for second all-time in conference history with her 205th run scored Saturday.
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) and
Haleigh Karcher (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) each hit RBI doubles in game two. Aguilar finished the second game 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Karcher was 2-for-3.
