WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester softball team (13-15) continued its homestand on Tuesday afternoon vs non-league foe Wilmington (15-11), marking the second time the two non-conference rivals had met in the last two weeks. In the first game of the day, West Chester never trailed en route to a 8-7 victory before dropping the nightcap by a final of 8-2 in a split with the visiting Wildcats.
Game One: WCU 8 Wilmington 7
In the first game of the afternoon, West Chester took an early lead when
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) lifted a fly ball out into right field, plenty deep enough to score the speedy
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca), who had worked a walk and found her way over to third after a single by
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) and an ensuing double steal as West Chester jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, West Chester added five more runs to its lead in the home half of the third. West Chester loaded the bases with no outs, which allowed
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) to sneak home on a wild pitch before Aguilar worked a walk to reload the bases. With the bases full of Golden Rams once more,
Emily Kim (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) laced a double down the left-field line, which cleared the bases and increased the Golden Ram lead to 5-0. Kim came around to score later in the inning on an RBI double by
Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic), allowing West Chester to carry a 6-0 lead into the fourth inning.
In the fourth,
Antonia Browning (Newark, Del./Charter School of Wilmington), who had been brilliant through her first three innings, encountered her first trouble of the day, eventually surrendering a pair of runs in the inning on a pair of hits and one costly error as the Wildcats cut the deficit to 6-2.
In the fifth, Browning walked the first batter she faced, which would also be the last batter she would face as she was lifted for
Anna Torrens (Holmes, Pa./Ridley). Wilmington eventually scored three more runs in top of the fifth, trimming the deficit to 6-5 before Torrens and the Golden Rams escaped the inning.
Browning ended her day with a final line of 4.0 innings pitched, scattering three hits and three runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out one, while Torrens pitched one inning, giving up three runs on three hits.
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) (4-4) entered in the sixth for West Chester in relief of Torrens after the first batter of the inning (who would later come around to score as the tying run) reached safely on a single to center field. Edwards limited the damage in the inning, allowing just the leadoff runner, whom she inherited, to score while avoiding further trouble and keeping the game tied at 6-6, heading into the home half of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, West Chester utilized a pair of defensive miscues by Wilmington to break the tie and retake the lead as Melvin scored on a passed ball while
Tess Smiley (Havertown, Pa./Haverford), who had pinch-run for Rittenbaugh, scored on a fielding error later in the inning to give West Chester a crucial two-run lead heading into the seventh.
In the seventh, Wilmington scratched across another run, making the score 8-7 but Picozzi who had come onto pitch in relief of Edwards midway through the inning, limited the damage and earned her second save of the year in the 8-7 game one triumph.
Edwards earned her fourth victory of the season, finishing with a final line of 1.1 pitched, scattering two hits and one run while striking out one in the victory.
For Wilmington, Molly Dill got the start and lasted just two innings, scattering four runs on three hits while Kylee Gunkel pitched the final four innings, surrendering four runs (two earned) on five hits while walking two and striking out five.
Game Two: Wilmington 8 WCU 2
In the second game of the afternoon, West Chester jumped out in front early, taking a 2-0 lead after a second-inning two run home run by PIcozzi, her third of the Spring, to carry a two-run lead into the third.
In the third inning, Wilmington answered back with a pair of runs of its own, tying the score at 2-2.
This score held until the top of the fifth when Wilmington took its first lead of the day after scoring three runs on four hits before duplicating this effort in the sixth to take a commanding 8-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
West Chester threatened in the sixth and seventh innings, but Wilmington pitcher Renamarie Rocha was sharp in the circle, going the distance, surrendering 10 hits but just two runs while striking out a pair to earn her third victory of the season.
Picozzi (6-6) got the start and pitched the first 4.2 innings of the contest, surrendering five runs (four earned) on eight hits while walking three and striking out three in the loss. Edwards and Torrens each pitched 0.2 of an inning in relief, surrendering one hit each while Edwards also walked one and was charged with three runs in the setback.
Summer Williams (Middletown, Del./Appoquinimink) entered to pitch the seventh and was tremendous, setting the Wildcats down in order, striking out one in the process to keep Wilmington in check and give her team a chance to rally in the home half of the seventh.
Up Next:
West Chester will return to action on Friday evening at Mansfield with that doubleheader set to begin at 2 p.m.
