KUTZTOWN, PA – Senior right-hander
Jen Hanshaw (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) was marvelous inside the circle, and West Chester's bats could not be silenced as the Golden Rams cruised to a 6-2 victory over West Liberty in an NCAA Atlantic Region semifinal Friday morning at North Campus Field.
West Chester (33-14) advanced to its fourth consecutive regional final with the win and will play for its third straight Atlantic Region championship Saturday at 1 p.m. Its opponent will have to beat the Golden Rams twice to wrestle the title away from the Purple & Gold.
Hanshaw (18-4) went the distance for her third win of the regional, allowing two runs on three hits. She did not walk a batter and struck out four. A two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth by Hilltopper, Kat Donzella, was the only blemish on an otherwise masterful performance. Laral Saunders' leadoff single in the sixth, which preceded Donzella's homer, was the first hit Hanshaw allowed.
West Chester tagged West Liberty starter Makenzie Amend (11-3) for five runs on 11 hits, before she exited in the sixth. Both were season high in runs and hits allowed by Amend.
The Golden Rams scored one in the third, three more in the fifth, and then single tallies in the sixth and seventh. In all, they scored six runs on 13 hits and did not make an error. West Liberty scored twice in the sixth. They finished with two runs on three hits and did not commit an error.
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) started a two-out rally in the third with an infield single. She then stole second base, sliding in underneath the tag.
Jaime Klemas (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) doubled to right-center, scoring Melvin.
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) pinch hit to lead off the fifth for West Chester, reaching on a bunt single back to the circle.
Bri Garber (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) sacrificed her to second where Melvin followed with a RBI double to left-center.
Courtney Stump singled to left, plating Melvin, before
Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) singled in Stump to extend the Golden Rams' lead to 4-0.
Klemas added a RBI single in the sixth to increase the lead to 5-0. That is when Donzella hit her 11th home run of the season in the bottom half of the sixth to pull West Liberty to with three, 5-2.
Stump led off the top of the seventh with a solo shot to left, her seventh of the year, to close out the scoring for the game. Hanshaw took care of the Hilltoppers in the seventh.
Stump finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Klemas was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Melvin continued her hot bat at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and one RBI. She pulled into a tie with Garber for the team lead in hits with her 66th and 67th base hits Friday. Garber played in her 244th career game, eclipsing former Kutztown standout Maria Schiavo at the top of the conference all-time games played list.
