PEMBROKE, N.C.- The West Chester softball team (7-4) began its southern road trip with a sweep of UNC-Pembroke (7-16) on Monday evening, capturing game one by a 2-1 final before picking up the game two victory by a 13-4 final score in six innings.
Game One: WCU 2 UNC-Pembroke 1
In the third inning,
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest) opened the scoring with an RBI single to third, which plated
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) and gave the Golden Rams an early 1-0 lead.
This lead lasted only briefly before Pembroke answered, working a bases-loaded walk, which evened the score at 1-1.
The hosts threatened to take their first lead of the game in the sixth, getting a pair of runners on to start the inning, which led to a pitching change for West Chester as
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) entered in relief of
Samantha Klug (East Norriton, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy). Edwards worked out of the jam with a pair of fly ball outs, followed by a fielder's choice to end the threat in the sixth.
Melvin came through in the seventh with an RBI double to left, which plated
Frankee DeLeo (Blakeslee, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) and gave West Chester a 2-1 lead. The Golden Rams looked as if they may tack on more runs before the end of the seventh, but the Braves worked out of the inning, trailing by just one heading into the seventh.
In the home seventh, West Chester recorded back-to-back strikeouts to open the inning before Pembroke doubled to left to keep the hosts alive for at least another out. A walk to the next batter gave the Braves runners on first and second with two outs before Edwards ended the game with a strikeout to give West Chester the game-one win.
Klug tossed five solid innings, scattering just five hits and one run with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. Edwards (1-2) picked up her first victory of the year, tossing the final two innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out three.
Game Two: WCU 13 UNCP 4
In the first inning of the second game of the doubleheader, West Chester broke through early, scoring a pair of runs via a wild pitch, which scored
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) before
Abby Quinn (Cheltenham, Pa./William Penn) singled home Aguilar to make it a 2-0 lead for the Golden Rams.
Hailey Melvin extended the lead in the second with an RBI single of her own to stretch the lead to 3-0. West Chester moved the lead to 5-0 in the third with a pair of RBI singles from
Meg Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) and
Madison Melvin.
Pembroke answered back with a run of its own in the home half of the third, courtesy of an RBI single, before loading the bases with no outs in the home fourth. West Chester picked up its first out of the home half of the fourth on a liner to first, snared by
Casey Best (Wilmington, Del./Concord). The Braves got one more back in the fourth, making the score 5-2, before West Chester worked out of trouble to maintain a three-run lead heading into the fifth.
Emma Zoldi (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) came through with a two-RBI single in the fifth, which stretched the lead back to 7-2, while also advancing to third, after an error by the right fielder, giving West Chester a runner on third with no outs in the inning.
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) followed this up with an RBI single, which drove in Zoldi, extending the WCU lead to 8-2. Melvin drove in the Golden Rams ninth run of the game with a sac fly to center, scoring Rittenbaugh, who had advanced earlier in the inning via a wild pitch.
West Chester got its eight-run lead moments later courtesy of an RBI single from Aguilar, scoring Melvin, as West Chester found itself ahead by eight with only one out in the fifth. West Chester added one more run to its tally on a sac fly by
Olivia Mock (Clifton, Va./Paul V), which scored Aguilar, who had moved to third after a double by Best.
Needing just three outs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game early, the Braves got their first runners of the inning on before eventually getting two runs back to extend the game to the sixth.
Zoldi got the two runs right back for West Chester in the sixth, hitting a two-run home run to left, which gave the Golden Rams a commanding 13-4 lead.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) got the start in the circle and worked the first three innings, scattering two runs on four hits while striking out three, before exiting in favor of
Antonia Browning (Newark, Del./Charter School of Wilmington). She pitched the next two innings, surrendering a pair of runs on three hits, before Klug entered for the final inning. She got the necessary three outs on just 10 pitches to close out the victory.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action tomorrow in a doubleheader against Francis Marion beginning at 4 p.m. in Florence, South Carolina.
