Golden Rams Advance to PSAC Championship Game

KUTZTOWN, PA. - On Monday afternoon, the West Chester University softball team defeated Kutztown in a best of three series to advance to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship game for the fourth time in program history. The Golden Rams went to the PSAC Championship game in 2011, 2017, and 2018. WCU was PSAC Champions during the season of 2017.
 
Due to wet weather on Sunday afternoon, the Golden Rams were faced with play a doubleheader on Monday morning. West Chester fell to the Golden Bears in game one losing, 10-2. They were able to come back to win game two and the series, 6-3.
 
GAME ONE

• Kutztown opened up the bottom of the first inning with a run scored on a ground out to second base. Alyssa Donato singled up the middle before ending the half inning, giving the Golden Bears the lead 2-0.
• Senior Courtney Stump (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) singled to shortstop to bring a runner home for WCU. Sophomore Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) hit a fly ball to left field to score a run for West Chester and tie the game, 2-2.
• The Golden Bears scored one RBI on a home run from Sarah Harvey in the bottom of the second.
• During the bottom of the fifth, Kutztown scored three runs off of two singles and a Kate Ostaszewski homerun to make the game, 6-2.
• Before the end of the game, the Golden Bears went on to bring in four more runs on two singles and two ground outs, winning 10-2.

 
INSIDE THE STATS | GAME ONE

• Sophomore Madison Melvin had three hits while Stump had two hits in game one.
• Freshman Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) pitched five innings and two strikeouts for Golden Rams.

 
GAME TWO

• Senior Jamie Klemas (South Brunswick, NJ./South Brunswick) set the tone for game two with a homerun in the top of the first to left field.
• The Golden Bears scored two runs on a single from Brianna Hughes and doubled from Jenna Lipowski to put them ahead, 2-1.
• Sophomore Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) stole third base on a throwing error, allowing WCU to score on run off of it. A single up the middle from sophomore Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, NJ./ Seneca) put the Golden Rams ahead, 3-2.
• In the top of the fourth, fifth year Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) reached on a fielding error to score a run for WCU. Klemas hit a fly ball to center field allowing a runner to come home and a single up the middle from Stump increased the lead to 6-2.
• Kutztown's Jenna Lipowski  hit a home run in the top of the fifth to score one last run for the Golden Bears and end the game, 6-3.

 
INSIDE THE STATS | GAME TWO

• Senior Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) improves to 14-4 on the season after pitching five innings and two strikeouts for the Golden Rams.
• Melvin, Aguilar, and sophomore Haleigh Karcher (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) all had a stolen base for the Purple & Gold.
• Klemas had two RBIs for game two against Kutztown.

 
West Chester will face the winner of Seton Hill/Gannon in the PSAC Championship series on Saturday, May 15 and if needed a tie breaker game on Sunday, May 16. Time of games are yet to be decided.