WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Playing in its earliest home game in recent memory, the West Chester softball team (1-1) kicked off its season at home on Friday afternoon in a non-conference battle against Le Moyne (1-1). West Chester dropped game one by a 4-3 final before storming back to take game two by an 8-2 final behind a masterful pitching performance by
Samantha Klug (East Norriton, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) (1-0) and a pair of triples by
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) to split its first series of the 2023 season.
Game One: Le Moyne 4 WCU 3
After a scoreless top of the first, West Chester nearly scratched across the game's first run in the home half after a one-out double by
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove), but Le Moyne worked out of trouble to keep the game scoreless.
Le Moyne pushed across a run in the top of the second on an RBI groundout to a charging
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) to give Le Moyne a 1-0 lead heading into the third after a scoreless home half of the inning.
In the home half of the third, West Chester erased its one-run deficit quickly after a bases-loaded double by Aguilar scored a pair before West Chester pushed another run across on a wild pitch to take a 3-1 lead into the fourth.
Antonia Browning (Newark, Del/Charter School of Wilmington) worked a scoreless fourth and recorded her fourth strikeout of the game before being lifted in the fifth after her first batter reached. Browning finished with a line of 4.0 innings pitched, surrendering two runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks.
Mary Picozzi (Collegeville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) entered in relief and surrendered back-to-back hits, surrendering the lead and being charged with a pair of runs, although only one was earned.
McKenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) (0-1) entered in relief and limited the damage, keeping West Chester within a run (4-3) heading into the home half of the fifth.
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) reached on an infield single with one away in the inning, closing the book of Le Moyne starter Julia Panella (1-0), who finished with a final line of 4.1 innings pitched, four hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts
Laura Bennett, who entered in relief of Panella, worked around her early base runner to give Le Moyne a scoreless fifth and a 4-3 lead heading to the sixth. Bennett went the rest of the way in the circle for Le Moyne, picking up her first save of the season with seven strikeouts and just one walk over the course of her 2.2 innings of work to help Le Moyne start the year with a victory.
On Friday afternoon, Edwards was a tough-luck loser in game one, pitching the final three innings, scattering just three hits while striking out a pair and allowing no runs after the inherited runner scored in the decisive fifth inning.
Game Two: WCU 8 Le Moyne 2
After a scoreless top of the first, which saw Klug record her first collegiate strikeout, West Chester got a pair of runners to start the inning after infield singles by Melvin and Rittenbaugh, but Le Moyne worked around its early trouble to keep the game scoreless.
In the top of the second, Klug struck out her first two batters of the inning before getting a quick ground ball to second to end the frame and keep the game scoreless.
Melvin led off the third with a triple to left center, which allowed her to score moments later on a hard-hit RBI single by Rittenbaugh to give West Chester an early lead. Aguilar followed this up with a double to left, off the top of the fence, which gave West Chester runners on second and third with no outs. Bennett, who earned the game-one save, buckled down after this, striking out the side to hold West Chester to just one run as WCU held a 1-0 lead heading into the fourth.
Le Moyne threatened in the fourth, getting its leadoff hitter on and promptly stealing second, but Klug worked around the early runner expertly to keep Le Moyne off the scoreboard heading to the home half of the fourth.
Le Moyne got the runs it was looking for in the fifth, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the inning following a series of passed balls to erase its one-run deficit and take a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, pinch-hitter
Alexa Peterson (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) tied the game up at 2-2 with a double down the left-field line. West Chester pushed across another run moments later on an error following a sharply hit ground ball by
Cyd Keidaisch (Pottstown, Pa./Boyertown) before scoring its fourth run on a standup triple by Melvin, her second of the game to give West Chester a 4-2 lead.
Abby Quinn (Cheltenham, Pa./William Penn) extended the lead by four with a grand slam to dead center, giving West Chester a commanding 8-2 lead heading into the seventh.
This 8-2 lead proved to be more than enough for Klug and the Golden Rams as West Chester closed out the contest with a 1,2,3 top of the seventh to send the home fans home happy on Friday afternoon.
Klug, making her first collegiate start, pitched tremendously, scattering just four hits and a pair of unearned runs while striking out five to help lead West Chester to the game-two victory.
For Le Moyne, Bennett (0-1) suffered the loss in the nightcap, going six innings strong before finding trouble in the sixth, eventually ending her day with a final line of 5.2 innings pitched and five runs (two earned) allowed on nine hits while striking out 10 in the loss. Michaela Stockwell entered in relief and walked two, eventually being charged with two runs before being lifted in favor of Panarella. Panarella, the Dolphin's game-one starter, re-entered in the sixth and gave up just one hit, although it happened to be a grand slam off the bat of Quinn before getting the final out to keep the score at 6-2 heading into the seventh.
Up Next:
West Chester is scheduled to return to action near the end of the month with a matchup against this same Le Moyne team at the NFCA DII Leadoff Classic in Columbus on February 24
th at 3 p.m.
