GLENVILLE, W.V.- The West Chester softball team (3-3) returned to action on Friday afternoon in Glenville, West Virginia at the Mountain East/PSAC Challenge, earning a pair of victories in just five innings each, taking game one over Salem by a final of 13-2 before defeating host Glenville State 15-2 in the second game of the afternoon.
GAME ONE: West Chester 13 Salem 2 (5 Innings)
Freshman
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) earned her first career victory in the circle for West Chester in this game, going the distance, surrendering just two unearned runs and three hits while striking out five to earn the victory.
Salem got on the board early, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first, to take an early 2-0 lead over West Chester. This early lead would prove to be Salem's first and last lead of the afternoon as West Chester countered with a four-run home half to take a 4-2 lead.
In the home half of the first, West Chester scored its four runs via a balanced attack as
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) doubled home
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) before coming around to score herself following an error by the Salem catcher to even the score at 2-2.
Alexa Peterson (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) put West Chester out in front with a two-RBI single scoring
Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) and
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) to give West Chester a 4-2 lead.
After the first inning, Edwards settled into an impressive groove, allowing just one hit and one base runner over the final four innings of the game.
In the second, West Chester added to its lead with four RBI singles off the bats of
Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright), Haleigh Karcher (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson), and a two-RBI single from
Olivia Mock (Clifton, Va./Paul V Catholic) to stretch the lead to 8-2.
In the home half of the third, West Chester made sure it reached the eight-run plateau it needed to earn a shortened victory, exploding for five more runs thanks to an RBI single from Aguilar and a towering grand slam off the bat of Kopinetz to give West Chester a commanding 13-2 lead heading into the fourth.
After a silent fourth inning, Salem threatened in the fifth, getting its leadoff hitter on base via a single and getting her over to third after a pair of sacrifice bunts but Edwards got the final batter of the game to groundout harmlessly as West Chester earned the 13-2 victory to improve to 2-3 on the season.
For Salem, the Tigers used three different pitchers in the setback with starting pitcher Andrea Gallegos being charged with the loss after surrendering four runs in the first inning in her only inning of work. Meesha Arroyo entered in relief and pitched the next two innings, being charged with nine runs (seven earned) on eight hits before exiting in favor of Emily Villar who pitched the final inning, setting the Golden Rams down in order to keep the score where it was heading into the fifth.
Eight different Golden Rams registered a hit in this victory led by a 3-for-3 effort from Aguilar, which also saw her score three runs and drive in one more while Kopinetz delivered the biggest hit of the day, with her grand slam in the third inning to give her a team-high four RBI in the victory.
GAME TWO: West Chester 15 Glenville State 2 (5 Innings)
West Chester got out to an early lead after
Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) line a two-RBI double down the right field line to plate Melvin
and Aguilar who had both reached on singles earlier in the inning, giving West Chester an early 2-0 lead. A wild pitch moved Kim up to third base with two outs and Mock batting, which allowed Kim to score on a single into shallow right field to give West Chester a 3-0 advantage.
In the second inning,
Asia Barnard (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) doubled off the right field wall early in the inning to give West Chester a runner on second with one out in the inning. Melvin moved Bernard to third on single down the third base line, which allowed Bernard to score on a perfectly excuted double steal to take a 4-0 lead. West Chester continued to put pressure on the Glenville State defense with another double steal after Rittenbaugh reached safely. This double steal allowed Melvin to score on an infield single by Aguilar to stretch the West Chester lead to 5-0 in the second inning of play. Kim continued her big day, lofting a fly ball into shallow right field, which Glenville State was unable to get to, allowing Rittenbaugh to score and giving West Chester a commanding 6-0 lead after the second inning.
After a scoreless home half of the second and top of the third, Glenville State got two runs back, making the score 6-2 heading into the fourth inning. West Chester wasted little time in getting its lead back in order as
Abigail Quinn (Cheltenham, Pa./William Penn Charter) hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth, giving West Chester back a 9-2 lead with two outs in the fourth. Glenville State escaped the inning with no further damage as the game went to the bottom of the fourth with the score 9-2 in favor of West Chester.
In the top of the fifth, looking to put itself in position to win another game in short order, West Chester got runners on first and second with just one out in the inning before Kopinetz ripped a one-out double into left field to give West Chester a commanding 10-2 lead and put runners on second and third with two out in the inning. Kim followed this up with a two-RBI single back up the middle to make the score 12-2, and improve herself to 4-for-4 on the afternoon with five RBI. Quinn continued her big afternoon with another three-run home run to give West Chester a commanding 15-2 lead in the top of the fifth.
Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) (1-1) helped make sure the Golden Ram bullpen had the day off, twirling a two-run complete game of her own to match Edwards complete-game victory in game one. Over the course of her five innings of work, Picozzi surrendered seven hits and struck out three to earn her first victory of the year.
Sophia Delvecchio (0-1) got the ball and the loss for Glenville State, surrendering 15 runs on 14 hits over the course of her 4.1 innings in the setback.
Kim and Quinn combined for 11 of the team's 15 runs in the victory as Quinn blasted a pair of three-run home runs while Kim drove in five more on a 4-for-4 day at the plate to help lead West Chester to the victory.
UP NEXT
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow morning vs West Virginia State before facing PSAC West foe Mercyhurst in its final game of the weekend.
