PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- The West Chester softball team (6-4) returned to action on Sunday afternoon at Jefferson (0-2) in its final game in Pennsylvania before heading to the Sunshine State for 12 games over Spring Break beginning next Friday afternoon vs Southern New Hampshire. West Chester erased a mid-game deficit in the first game of the afternoon to earn a 10-6 comeback victory in the first game of the day and never trailed in the nightcap, rolling to a 7-2 victory to earn the Sunday sweep.
Game One: WCU 10 Jefferson 6
Trisha Kopinetz (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) gave West Chester an early lead with a two-run home run to left center in the first inning to give the Golden Rams an early 2-0 lead.
Over the next four innings, Jefferson steadily worked its way back into the game, eventually taking a 6-2 lead heading into the fifth inning after scoring three runs in the third and a pair in the fourth.
West Chester did not trail for long as
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake First) who had scored on Kopinetz's two-run blast earlier in the game, sent an RBI single into left to plate
Asia Bernard (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) and
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) to cut the deficit in half. While Bernard and Rittenbaugh were making their way across the plate, Aguilar found her way to third, which allowed her to score on a SAC Fly off the bat of Kopinetz, making the score 6-5 in favor of Jefferson.
Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) followed this up with a home run to left, tying the score at 6-6 before
Haleigh Karcher (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) hit a solo shot of her own to give West Chester a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) (3-1) who had entered in relief of
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) in the third, worked a scoreless fifth and sixth, allowing just two baserunners to send West Chester into the seventh leading by one.
In the top of the seventh, West Chester extended its lead as Karcher laced an RBI single to score Kim and make the score 8-6.
Olivia Mock (Clifton, Va./Paul V. Catholic) followed this up with an RBI double to score
Audrey Kochanowicz (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven), which
Sierra Marsteller (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) followed up with an RBI single, plating
Casey Best (Wilimington, Del./Concord) to give West Chester a 10-6 lead heading into the home half of the seventh.
In the home half of the seventh, West Chester recorded the first two outs in short order before Jefferson got a runner on with two gone in the inning following a single that snuck through the left side of the infield. Picozzi made sure this runner would not come around the score, getting the final out of the game on a ground ball to third base as West Chester earned the 10-6 comeback victory.
Edwards got the start for West Chester, pitching the first 2.1 surrendering four runs on four hits with two strikeouts before exiting in favor of Picozzi. Picozzi earned her third victory of the season with a solid outing, tossing the final 4.2, surrendering four hits and two runs (just one earned) and striking out three to help West Chester to the victory.
Game Two: WCU 7 Jefferson 2
In the second game of the doubleheader, West Chester scored the first run of the game once again, this time using an RBI SAC Fly off the bat of
Abigail Quinn (Cheltenham, Pa./William Penn Charter) to plate Kopinetz and give West Chester an early 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
In the bottom of the second, Jefferson got the run back, evening the score at 1-1 heading into the third.
West Chester wasted little time in getting its run back in the third, loading the bases in the frame, which allowed a walk by Kopinetz to be enough to bring home
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) to retake a 2-1 lead. West Chester stretched its lead in the fourth when Rittenbaugh snuck a single from the right side of the Rams infield, allowing Quinn to scamper home and give West Chester a 3-1 lead.
Jefferson was held scoreless in the home half of the fourth but answered back in the fifth with an RBI single into center field to pull back within one (3-2) heading into the sixth.
Anna Torrens (Holmes, Pa./Ridley) (1-1) got the start for West Chester and pitched well, working into the sixth inning, scattering two runs on seven hits before exiting in favor of Picozzi after finding herself in a jam in the sixth inning.
In the home half of the sixth, Jefferson threatened early, getting a runner to second base with just one out in the inning but Picozzi, who had entered in relief of Torrens, worked out of trouble, allowing West Chester to preserve a 3-2 lead heading into the seventh.
In the top of the seventh, West Chester saw its first two batters of the inning reach safely, opening an opportunity for Mock to bring both of them home with a two-RBI triple to left center to give the Purple and Gold a 5-2 lead.
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca), who had pinch run for Mock found her way home moments later when Quinn reached on a throwing error as West Chester stretched its lead to 6-2. The Golden Ram lead increased once more when Kochanowicz scored an RBI groundout from Marsteller to put West Chester ahead 7-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Finding itself down by five heading into the home half of the seventh, Jefferson hoped to mount a comeback but Picozzi made short work of the Rams, earning the save to help West Chester earn the sweep of Jefferson on Sunday afternoon.
West Chester will be back in action on Friday afternoon in the Sunshine State vs Southern New Hampshire beginning at 1:30 p.m. in its first action in the Sunshine State of the 2022 season.
