SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- Looking to improve upon its chances of winning its first PSAC East Regular Season crown since 2019, the West Chester softball team (36-15,24-6) took to the road on Thursday afternoon to square off against Eastern Division rival Shippensburg in a pivotal PSAC East clash. West Chester overcame an early deficit in game one to pick up a 6-4 victory before seeing its game two comeback effort fall just short in a 6-4 loss at the hands of the Raiders.
Today's split gives West Chester a split of the season series vs the Raiders, while also further helping the Golden Rams chances of capturing the PSAC East Regular Season Title when the regular season concludes on Monday evening. In order to lockup the PSAC East Regular Season title, West Chester will only need to either win at least one game vs Shepherd on Monday or see East Stroudsburg drop one game of its doubleheader vs Lock Haven tomorrow afternoon.
Game One: WCU 6 Shippensburg 4
Shippensburg jumped out to an early lead in the first, claiming a 2-0 advantage after an RBI triple by Hannah Marsteller and an RBI groundout by Morgan Lindsay moments later to take an early lead.
West Chester cut the lead in half in the second inning with an RBI double off the bat of
Meg Wolfe (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) before evening the score at 2-2 in the third after a single to third by
Haleigh Karcher (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Thomas Jefferson).
Shippensburg threatened in the home half of the third, getting runners on first and second with no outs before eventually pulling ahead via an RBI single by Marsteller to take a 3-2 lead over the Golden Rams. Shippensburg extended the lead further with a single to left by Alyssa Nehlen to carry a 4-2 lead into the fourth.
West Chester got a pair of runners on in the fourth via a single from
Emma Zoldi (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) and a walk by
Madison Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) before Kaira Zamadics and the Raiders escaped the inning with a popout to second, carrying a 4-2 lead into the home half of the fourth.
Makenzie Edwards (Atco, N.J./Hammonton) got the start and worked the first three innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits while walking one and striking out a pair.
Samantha Klug (East Norriton, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy) (10-3) entered in relief of Edwards and was outstanding, holding Shippensburg hitless over her three innings of work while walking one and striking out a pair for her 10
th win of the season.
Maelyn Leber got the start for Shippensburg and worked the first 2.2 allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking one and striking out a pair before exiting in favor of Zamadics (5-4).
Hailey Melvin (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) started the fifth with a triple to right center, which allowed her to score on a sac fly by
Grace Aguilar (Frederica, Del./Lake Forest). This is all West Chester would score in the fifth as the Golden Rams trailed 4-3 heading into the sixth.
Olivia Mock (Clifton, Va./Paul V) led off the sixth with a standup double to right center before the Golden Rams moved pinch runner
Frankee DeLeo (Blakeslee, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) over with a sac bunt, getting a runner on third with one out. The early runner paid off when
Madison Melvin reached on an infield single, which scored DeLeo and evened the score at 4-4. West Chester took the lead just moments later when
Katelyn Rittenbaugh (Donaldson, Pa./Pine Grove) dropped a single into shallow left, which was enough to score the speedy Melvin and give West Chester a 5-4 lead, which was also its first of the game.
This rally closed the book on Zamadics as Emma Flattery entered in relief in an attempt to halt the Golden Ram offense. Zamadics finished with a final line of three runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Flattery escaped the jam without any further damage keeping the Raiders down by just one heading into the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Wolfe gave West Chester a clutch insurance run with a solo home run on the first pitch she saw from Flattery, extending the lead to 6-4 with one out in the seventh. West Chester followed this up with back-to-back singles, which ended Flattery's afternoon as she recorded just two outs while allowing one run on four hits before Hanna Phillips entered in relief. Phillips loaded the bases before ending the inning with a pair of strikeouts to keep the score at 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Danielle Ciliberto (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) entered in relief of Klug for the seventh and earned her third save of the season, closing out the victory.
Game Two: SHIP 6 WCU 4
West Chester jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first before Shippensburg countered with three runs of its own to take a 3-1 lead into the second.
The Raiders added runs in the third and fourth to stretch the lead to 5-1 before the Golden Rams began their comeback effort.
In the fifth, West Chester loaded the bases, which after bases loaded walk by Karcher allowed WCU to cut the deficit to 5-2. The Golden Rams pulled back within a pair in the sixth after an RBI single by Zoldi before loading the bases yet again in the seventh.
Shippensburg added a run of its own in the sixth, extending the lead to 6-3 heading into the seventh, which nearly proved crucial as West Chester attempted to mount a final comeback in the top of the seventh.
The Golden Rams loaded the bases with one and cut the deficit to 6-4 with two outs before loading the bases once again following a four-pitch walk to Mock before the Raiders tight-roped out of danger to hold on for a doubleheader and season series split vs the Golden Rams.
Ciliberto (13-4), who picked up her third save of the year in game one, was saddled with the loss in game two after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits in two innings of work.
Antonia Browning (Newark, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) entered in relief and pitched the next 3.1 allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out six before Klug entered for the final two outs of the sixth inning.
Maddie Ushock (3-0) picked up the win in the nightcap for Shippensburg, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out four over the course of four innings in the circle. Maelynn Leber pitched the final 1.1 to earn the save, allowing one run on four hits and one walk in the game two victory.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Monday afternoon on what will be the final day of the regular season across the PSAC against Shepherd beginning at 2 p.m.
